Missing Amethyst Eyes
by Spring Witch
Summary: When Eiri throws Shuichi out of the house again, the two bands and Mika take matters into their own hands, with hilarious results. In a bid to make Eiri jealous, Shuchan starts 'dating' Ryuichi!
1. The Plan is Formed

Welcome to my second Gravitation fic! My first one was a oone shot, but this one is considerably longer. This is dedicatedto my best friend Carly, thanks for the support on this one!

**Disclaimer:** I'm doing this now soI don't have to do it again for a while; I don't own Gravitation.

**Missing Amethyst Eyes**

**Chapter One**

"Awww, c'mon Yuki!" The pink-haired teen whined, tugging persistently at the blonde's arm. "Take me out somewhere! Please!" he begged. Eiri Yuki growled in annoyance, trying to ignore the wide, innocent eyes that complimented the puppy dog face so adorably, the face that would make him melt if he looked at it. So instead, he glared determinedly at his laptop and snapped. "Go away, you brat! I have a deadline to meet and four chapters to write!"

"Awww, Yuki! Please!" Shuichi, 'affectionately' termed 'the brat' whined again, turning the puppy dog eyes to full power.

Yuki decided he had to do something before his resolve crumbled. He grabbed Shuichi by his shirt collar and hauled him to the font door. "GET OUT!!!!" He yelled, perhaps a little more forcefully than he'd intended. "Go and bug Hiro for a change!" he slammed the door in Shuichi's face.

**At Hiro's**

"Hey, Shuichi. You get kicked out again?" Hiro asked the other boy gently. Shuichi nodded and sniffed. "C'mon in, you can crash here tonight and go back in the morning. We can have a jam session, how does that sound?" he said kindly.

Shuichi smiled weakly. "Thanks Hiro, you're the best."

Hiro smirked. "I know I am!" Shuichi groaned and aimed a half hearted punch at his best friend.

**Back at the apartment  
**

"You threw him out _again_!!" Mika demanded incredulously. "Eiri this has to stop! It's getting ridiculous!"

"Oh, knock it off!" Yuki snapped. "He'll come back. He always does." He added confidently.

"Yeah, but one day Eiri, he _won't_ come back." Mika replied. "You break his heart every time you do something like this, and one day little brother, he won't come running back, and only then will you realise how much you need him."

"Wow Mika, I'm impressed. Did you come up with that one all by yourself?" Yuki drawled sarcastically. "Now if you don't mind, I have a book to write."

Mika sighed, "Alright Eiri, have it your way. But one day you're going to realise I'm right, and by then it will be too late."

"Yeah sure, whatever. Seeya." Yuki said shortly, hanging up the phone.

On the other line, Mika too hung up the phone, a thoughtful look on her face. "And I'm going to prove it to you." She said to herself. "Tohma, Get the car!"

* * *

"You okay man?" Hiroshi Nakano asked his best friend. 

Shuichi smiled weakly. "Yeah, I'm fine Hiro. I'll head back in the morning." He answered.

Hiro scratched his head. "Sounds like a plan." He said cheerfully. He sobered. "But I'll never get why you keep going back. You're just gonna get hurt again dude."

"Because I love him." Shuichi replied simply.

"Yeah, I know you do, but how much more crap can you take from him?" Hiro demanded.

Shuichi sighed. "I dunno Hiro, I dunno."

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Hiro went to answer it, and Shuichi heard him invite the visitors in. "Mr. Seguchi, Mrs. Seguchi! It's good to see you!"

"We're looking for Shuichi, is he here?" Mika asked briskly.

"Yeah, Yuki kicked him out again." Hiro answered.

"Yes, I know; that's why were here." Mika said, "I have a plan. It involves both of you."

"Come on in then." Hiro said, bemused.

"Hi guys." Shuichi greeted them. "What's up?"  
"The way Eiri treats you is what's up!" Mika answered. "I've had enough!"

"So what's your plan?" Hiro asked.

"To make Eiri realise how much he needs Shuichi." Mika replied.

"I like it!" Hiro said, "But how?"

Tohma smiled. "Jealousy." He said. "We propose that we make Eiri believe that Shuichi has found someone else; another guy."

"That's where you come in Hiro." Mika said, "If you're willing. You're the most likely and believable choice."

Hiro was silent for a while, and then he grinned. "You know what, it sounds like fun! I'll do it!"

"But Hiro it's… I mean – are you sure you…" Shuichi protested.

"Awww c'mon Shu, it wouldn't be the first time we pulled an act like this." Hiro reminded him. "Remember that music competition at school?"

"Hmmm, you've got a point there." Shuichi conceded. "But Yuki won't like it when he finds out what we've done."

"Theoretically, by the time we have to tell him, he won't care." Mika said.

Shuichi thought the idea through, and asked. "When are you putting this plan into action?"

"Next time he kicks you out, pack up your belongings and come here." Tohma answered.

"I dunno…" Shuichi said doubtfully.

"Oh, c'mon Shuichi! How much longer will you be able to take this treatment before it kills you?" Hiro demanded.

That decided him. "Fine, I'll do it." He said. "But I have one question though."

"Yes?" Tohma prompted.

"Why are you doing this for me?" Shuichi asked. "I know I'm not exactly your favourite person, either of you." He said, looking from Tohma to Mika and back again.

"Because we have come to realise that you have been better for Eiri than either one of us could've ever realised." Mika said, smiling at him. "You've done things for Eiri; health, personality, and more, which no one else could have hoped to achieve. You've made him happier than even he's realised, and we thank you for it."

**The Next Day**

"Yuki, I'm home!" Shuichi called into a silent house.

"Oh joy." A sarcastic voice muttered from the office. Yuki came into the living room. "I have a deadline in four days, if I don't have my manuscript finished by then Kanna's gonna freak, so don't bother me. Got that, brat?"

Shuichi nodded meekly. "Yes Yuki."

"Good." Yuki said and kissed him, lifting the shorter teen into his arms and carrying him towards the bedroom.

Gently he laid the boy on the bed and kissed his neck, making Shuichi moan and arch his back towards him.

And thus both day and night passed, and Shuichi's incoherent mind began to wonder is all their plans were truly necessary.

**3 days later**

"Yukiiiii! I'm bored!" Shuichi whined for the hundredth time that day.

"And your point is?" Yuki answered irritably for the hundredth time that day.

"I wanna do something! Can't we go out somewhere?" Shuichi pleaded.

"No, we can't." Yuki snapped.

"Pleeeaaase!!"

"No!"

'_Okay, time for a change of tactic._' Shuichi thought to himself. He shrugged. "Fine." He left the living room, where Yuki had stupidly stationed himself for the last day before Kanna came to collect his manuscript.

'_Finally, he's gone!_'' Yuki thought. '_Sweet Jesus I thought he'd never leave me a…lone._' He lost his train of thought as Shuichi sauntered nonchalantly back into the room, his shirt unbuttoned, revealing a firm, sleek, well defined torso , determined to get what he wanted. Yuki's breath caught in his throat, and it looked as if Shuichi had no idea what he was doing to the older man. '_This is **so** inconvenient.' _Yuki thought, somewhat incoherently, _'I have to do something about him.'_

'_You know what you want to do **to** him.'_ Another part of him whispered.

'_True, but that's not the point'_ abruptly cutting off the traitorous little voice, he got to his feet and made his way over to Shuichi. "You know, you're really testing my resolve." He said brokenly. He trailed his fingers lightly over Shuichi's skin, making him shiver agreeably.

Shuichi looked up into his eyes and licked his lips seductively. "I know." He whispered, and he pulled Eiri down and kissed him gently. Eiri, in a moment of weakness, kissed him back hard. He was almost completely lost in his desire before his mind caught up and he pulled away, breathing heavily.

"No you don't." he muttered. "Not this time." He pushed his hair out of his eyes and stepped away from Shuichi.

"Yuki?" Shuichi asked softly, fearing the worst.

Eiri took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "I think you'd better spend the night at Hiro's house." He said.

"But why?" Shuichi looked hurt.

Yuki, unable to bear the look of devastation in Shuichi's eyes, turned his back to him. "Because I said so." He answered coldly, wincing at the tone of his own voice. "I can't concentrate with you around."

If he'd been watching, he would've seen that Shuichi had gone incredibly pale. He had hoped it wouldn't have to come to this; putting their plan into action. Now the time had come, he didn't want to go through with it.

"_How much longer will you be able to take this treatment before it kills you?_" Hiro's words rang through his mind like a hammer on hot metal.

"Fine, I'll go." He said softly. He went to his room and packed what he needed, then headed for the door. "Goodbye, Eiri." He said sadly.

When he was gone, Eiri sank back down in his chair and put his head in his hands. "He never calls me Eiri…" he murmured to himself. He was silent for a long moment, then he said aloud; "He'll come back, he always does." But Mika's voice echoed in his mind, like an ill omen of things to come, it gave Eiri a sense of foreboding.

"He has to come back."

* * *

"Here, take it." Yuki handed the completed manuscript, on time for a change, to the ever smiling Kanna. 

"Thankyou, Mr. Yuki, I'm so pleased you made the deadline."

"Yeah, yeah." Yuki muttered sullenly.

"So, happy or sad ending this time?" Kanna asked brightly.

"A bit of both. The heroine still gets to live happily ever after, but there's a slight plot twist and she doesn't end up with who everyone will think she will." Eiri answered.

Kanna got to her feet. "Well, I look forward to reading it!" she said. "I'll get out of your way now; I expect Shindou-san will be home soon."

Yuki sighed, trying to hide the fact that he was worried about his young lover. "Yes, I suppose he shall."

That was 4:00 pm.

**10:00 that night**

"Why isn't he home yet?" Yuki asked himself. He picked up the phone and dialled Mika's number, not really knowing why he felt the need to tell his big sister that Shuichi hadn't come home. When the phone rang out, he tried her mobile

"Hello?" her voice, sounding somewhat sleepy, came across the phone line.

"You're wrong Mika! You have to be wrong!" he said, almost yelling.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa Eiri! Calm down! Now, take a deep breath and tell me what's wrong." Mika said, sounding concerned. Although she was pretty certain she could hazard a guess as to what her brother was so worked up about.

"The damn brat hasn't come home yet!" Eiri knew how pathetic he must've sounded, how panicked.

"Oh, really?" Mika grinned wickedly. "Is my little brother finally getting the message?" she asked.

Eiri scowled. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were enjoying this." He said suspiciously.

"I won't deny it, yes I am enjoying this" Mika replied with smug satisfaction evident in her voice. "Because I was right."

"He'll come home, he always does." Eiri said defiantly, surprised at his use of the word 'home', sounding more confident that he felt.

"Don't be so sure little brother. This time, it might be you chasing him."

"I seriously doubt that." Eiri retorted, becoming bored with the conversation. "I'll talk to you later." He hung up.

In Kyoto, Mika hung up her own phone and called to her husband, "Tohma, we're going home, _now_!"

"Why?" Tohma inquired.

"The bird has flown." She informed him, using the old cliché, "Time to put our plan into action."

With a grin, Tohma reached for the car keys.

* * *


	2. The Plan is Begun

**Missing Amethyst Eyes**

**Chapter 2**

**The next day**

"So, it's come to this huh?" Hiro said to Shuichi as he plucked at his guitar.

"Yeah." Was all Shuichi could bring himself to say. He wanted nothing more than to run home to Yuki, and had in fact already tried. That had resulted in Hiro strait jacketing him, although where he got the jacket from, nobody knows. (Just one of those unexplainable Gravitation things!)

"Don't worry; it'll be okay Shu-chan." Hiro said, trying to comfort his best friend.

"Yeah, I know." Shuichi nodded. "At least, I hope so."

There was a knock at the door. "Ah, that'll be Mika and Tohma." Hiro put his guitar down. Sure enough, the two of them walked through the door.

"I'm sorry Shuichi." Tohma said kindly. He shifted his gaze to Hiro. "You guys still want to do this?" he asked.

Hiro nodded. "Yeah, we have to, but I've been thinking." He said.

"Uh-oh," Shuichi quipped, receiving a clip in the ear for his troubles.

"As I was saying, maybe I'm not the best person for the act." Hiro continued.

"Oh? And why is that?" Tohma queried.

"I have a girlfriend. And even if Ayaka didn't mind, people would talk, and Yuki would know something was wrong."

"Hmmm. You've got a point there. Is there someone you've got in mind?" Tohma asked.

Hiro nodded. "Ask Ryuichi." He replied.

Tohma stared. "Ryu-chan?" he asked, "Why him?"

"Well, Tatsuha-kun really likes him, and I mean _really_ likes him. Why not kill to birds with one stone, so to speak." Hiro answered.

Mika suddenly laughed. "Corrupting the good son huh? Actually, I like this idea, lets try it!" She nudged her husband.

He grinned. "I'll call him." He said, reaching for his phone.

* * *

"Hmmm, jealousy huh?" Ryuichi asked, his eyes shining.

"That's the plan." Tohma told him.

"Tell Shuichi I'll do it! I'll be right over!"

"Okay, see you soon." Tohma hung up and put his phone back in his pocket. "He's on his way."

The doorbell rang about half an hour later. Hiro once again put down his guitar and went to open the door, standing back to let the Nittle Grasper star inside.

"Hey Shu-chan!" Ryuichi carolled happily. Seeing the boy's sad face, he became serious. He sat beside Shuichi and put an arm around his shoulder. "Cheer up Shu-chan, it'll all work out eventually." He said.

Shuichi gave his idol a weak smile and nodded. "Thanks Sakuma-san." He replied softly.

Ryuichi grinned. "Uh, uh, uh! Please call me Ryu-chan!" he begged, brightening up again and bouncing up and down on the couch.

This made Shuichi smile. "Okay, Ryu-chan. Arigatou." He answered, Ryuichi's hyperness was catching.

As Shuichi began to liven up, Hiro had another thought. "Someone had better warn Sakano." He said. "And K-san and Suguru."

Tohma nodded. "Yes, Sakano will have a coronary if we spring this on him… he'll probably have a coronary anyway. I'll call him now."

"I'll call K--san and Suguru." Hiro added, leaving the room yelling to his older brother, "Yuji! Where's the phone?"

Once again the doorbell rang, and Mika answered it this time. She was greeted with a booming "Hey, Mrs. Seguchi!" from K and polite hellos from Sakano and Suguru. Sakano looked like he'd rammed his head through a brick wall and Suguru was extremely pale, but that was a frequent occurrence. It cam from being in a band with Shuichi.

Once the plan had been thoroughly explained, Suguru regained most of his colour, understanding that this needed to happed, as much for the band as for Eiri and Shuichi. Sakano however, wound up in a corner muttering about the end of a career; whose career nobody really knew.

"I actually think this may work. Eiri needs this to help him get his act together." Suguru said thoughtfully.

"That's the idea," Hiro replied.

Mika suddenly grinned. "There's one more person who will totally freak if she's not in on this!" she said to her husband.

Tohma laughed as he and Ryuichi said together; "Noriko-chan!"

"This _is_ the sort of thing she thrives on." Tohma admitted.

Ryuichi leapt off the couch. "I'll call!" he squealed.

It wasn't long before Noriko arrived, carrying a stack of party equipment. "Let's get smashed!!" she called happily. "I've got booze and music, what more could we want?" when they all looked at her blankly, Noriko rolled her eyes at them.

"Well, I figured you'd all be sitting around like a bunch of sad-sacks, and I was right, so I decided to forego my all work and no play philosophy…" Tohma snorted.

Noriko glared at him and continued, "And throw a party to cheer everyone up!" she finished. She spotted Sakano still muttering in the corner and sighed. "I think we'll be needing more booze." She said to Hiro, gesturing at Bad Luck's producer.

Hiro laughed as his brother came out of the kitchen with a slab of beer. "Did someone express the need for alcohol?" he asked amid cheers from Noriko.

"One rule though" Noriko added. "No Bad Luck or Nittle Grasper songs. The last thing we need is for our idiot lead singers to start a 'who's better' argument."

Suguru nodded wearily. "I agree. So what've you got?" he asked.

She threw him the case of the CD she was putting in the player. "They're a newbie band from Kyoto. I heard their first hit single on the radio the other day and I had to go and buy their album, these guys have real talent!"

Suguru studied the case. It featured the members of the band; two girls and four boys. "Ancient Curse huh?" he mused.

"Yeah, they do a pretty wide variety of stuff too. It's kind of refreshing." Noriko replied.

"Can I have a look?" Mika asked Suguru, who wordlessly passed the case over.

Mika looked at it for a moment, and then grinned. "Look," she said to her husband. "Looks like our little starlets made the big time."

Tohma glanced over her shoulder and grinned. "Well, they always _did_ have more than the right amount of talent. Good luck to them!" he replied with a smile.

"I bet everyone back home is really proud of them." Mika added.

Receiving an enquiring look from Suguru, she explained; "They've all lived in our neighbourhood ever since they were born. They all attended the local school, in fact, the girls still do and they all came to my family's temple every week. I think their lead singer's the only girl in the neighbourhood he hasn't slept with, except for the other girl on there." She indicated the other girl on the CD case.

Noriko popped up beside them. "Their single debut at number 5 on the charts. Wine?" she asked, offering a bottle.

"No thanks, I'm with Suguru on the alcohol free thing." Mika said ruefully, patting her stomach and smiling up at Tohma, who smiled back softly.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." Noriko answered, already a little tipsy. She stopped suddenly, "Oh, this is it, their single!" the music began to play, and everybody seemed to like what they heard.

**I see a home in a quiet place**

**I see myself in a strong embrace**

**I feel protection from the human race**

**It's not parental.**

**But it's a fantasy, not a reality**

**And it's no good, no, no good for me**

**That you have no idea.**

**That I'm walking through the clouds **

**When you're looking at me**

**I'm feeling like a child, vulnerability.**

**I am shaking like a leaf**

**If you move beside me**

**And you're all that I see,**

**But it's no good for me**

**You have a home in a quiet place **

**And someone else feels your strong embrace**

**She is protected and she needs no chase**

**Until you love her**

**You're a mystery, you are the heart if intrigue**

**You're no good, no, no good for me**

**But you have no idea. **

**That I'm walking through the clouds **

**When you're looking at me**

**I'm feeling like a child, vulnerability.**

**I am shaking like a leaf**

**If you move beside me**

**And you're all that I see,**

**But it's no good for me**

**No it's no good for me, yeah, no good for me.**

**It's a make believe, you have no idea,**

**That I'm walking through the clouds **

**When you're looking at me**

**I'm feeling like a child, vulnerability.**

**I am shaking like a leaf**

**If you move close to me**

**And you're all that I see,**

**But it's no good for me**

**It's just no good, no good**

**Through the clouds when you're looking at me**

**I'm feeling like a child, vulnerability.**

**I am shaking**

**Like a leaf**

**If you move beside me**

**And you're all that I see,**

**But it's no good for me**

**It's just no good for me.**

"Noriko wasn't kidding when she said they were good." Suguru said to Mika as they watched a very drunk Sakano cry on Tohma's shoulder.

"Mmmm." Mika agreed. "They must be, Noriko's pretty hard to please music wise."

"That's certainly true." Suguru replied, helping Tohma lay the now unconscious Sakano on the couch.

As the party continued, only Mika saw Tohma sneak away. She followed him, "Tohma, don't do anything stupid." She warned him. "I don't want either Eiri or Shuichi hurt, if I can help it. This is already going to hurt them enough."

"I'll be careful." Tohma promised, kissing his wife before getting into the car and heading towards Eiri's apartment.

* * *

Eiri, beer in hand and cigarette in his mouth, opened the door, scowling at the ever-smiling Tohma Seguchi. "Have you got any idea what time it is?" he growled.

Tohma grinned. "About 11:30 pm, if I'm not mistaken." He replied.

"Shut up." Eiri snapped, and received the unfathomable smile in return. Tohma held up a 6 pack and a strawberry shortcake he had filched from the party. "I stole these from the party at Hiro's for you."

"Nakano had a party?" Eiri asked, and Tohma did not miss the unspoken question in his voice.

"Yeah," keeping his promise to his wife, he added; "Kind of a 'cheer up Shuichi' party, he's pretty depressed. It was Noriko-chan's idea." Eiri grunted and Tohma looked at him slyly. "And by the looks of you, he's not the only one who's depressed."

Eiri groaned and slumped on to the couch, a piece of cake hanging from his mouth, "I don't know what's come over me, I feel kinda… lonely… without him." He said, sounding almost sad. "I don't know what to think."

"_I _think, my friend that you care about the kid more than even you yourself realise." Tohma sounded bitter.

"I doubt that." Eiri retorted.

"It's been a while since you've been apart this long. I guess you're not used to it." Tohma teased.

"Shut up!" was the best Eiri could come up with. "It's only been one night."

"Yeah, twice in one week." Tohma answered wryly.

"He'll come back eventually. He always does."

"Don't be so sure." Tohma cautioned.

"Go home." Eiri told him bluntly.

Tohma got to his feet with a laugh. "All right, I'm leaving. But come and meet me for lunch, say…12:30 at that Italian place you like so much." He coaxed.

"Fine, just leave me alone." Eiri agreed. Great, lunch with Seguchi was _just_ what he needed. Not.

* * *


	3. The Plan is Executed

**Missing Amethyst Eyes**

**Chapter 3**

"I don't know about this Ryu-chan." Shuichi muttered.

"Don't worry, it'll be easy!" Ryuichi replied, being his usual happy self.

"Ryu's right, Shindou," Tohma said soothingly. "I'll know if he sees you because he'll be more pissed off than usual when he meets me for lunch. Either that, or he'll cancel on me." He looked dejected at the thought of Yuki cancelling their lunch date.

"Besides, it's too late now; here he comes!" Ryuichi said. "Let's go!" he grabbed Shuichi's hand and pulled him down the street towards Eiri. As they got closer to the other man, within recognising distance, Ryuichi began to kiss Shuichi lightly on the neck, making him gasp in what, to Eiri, looked like pleasure.

"Shuichi?" Eiri demanded, causing the 'couple' to jump apart.

"Yuki!" Shuichi gasped, acting surprised.

"Yeah, it's me!" Eiri replied sarcastically. "What the hell is going on?" he asked angrily.

Shuichi took a deep breath and told him the well rehearsed lie. "We meed some time apart." He said softly.

"That's bullshit!" Eiri snapped. On the inside, he was panicking; were Mika and Tohma right after all? Would he be the one chasing Shuichi?

He glared at Ryuichi. "Would you excuse us please?"

"Yep, sure!" Ryuichi said, kissing Shuichi on the cheek before waving and walking off, hiding a triumphant smirk.

"Tell me the truth!" Eiri demanded.

"I did." Shuichi answered, tears falling from his eyes. "I'm sorry Yuki." He whispered.

Eiri took a deep breath. "So this is it then… after all this time, it's over?" he asked, not liking the sinking feeling in his stomach.

"No, we're not over yet." Shuichi replied. "Not until we both say we are. I want us to work, Eiri." He said, deliberately using his first name, "But I've given all that I can, with nothing in return. I need this because I want to keep you."

Eiri swore. "This is bullshit!" he said again, raging.

He looked down at Shuichi and his face softened for a moment, but he was so furious that he couldn't see the logic behind Shuichi's words. "Fine, if you want out, then so be it!" he snapped.

"Yuki! I don't…" Shuichi began, but Eiri was gone, walking quickly away.

As he walked, he ran slap-bang into a teenage girl walking in the other direction. She fell, dropping shopping bags full of food everywhere.

Shuichi ran to help her up. "I'm sorry miss!"

The young woman smiled up at him as he helped her to collect her things. "S'okay. But tell me, that wasn't Eiri Yuki by any chance was it?"

"Yeah, that was him." Shuichi answered dryly.

"I thought as much. I'm Kaede by the way, Kaede Kurasawa." She told him.

"I'm Shuichi Shindou." Shuichi introduced himself.

"Really? _The_ Shuichi Shindou?" she asked calmly.

"Yep the one and only." He replied wryly.

"I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused." Kaede said, gesturing at the shopping bags.

"No, I'm sorry for Yuki's behaviour." Shuichi apologised, sniffing a little.

"I wouldn't worry. Hey, I tell you what…" she was cut off by the sound of her name. "Hey, Kaede! Let's go, we're late!" a tall, dark haired boy yelled.

"Coming Akito!" she yelled back with a grin. She jerked her head at Shuichi to follow.

She off loaded the shopping to Akito and rummaged around in the centre consol of the car. "Here, my friends and I are going to a concert at the Palladium. We've got a spare backstage pass, why don't you and the rest of your band come along too? Call it my apology."

"Uh, okay sure! We'd love too!" Shuichi replied, smiling. He looked at the pass. "Ancient Curse huh? Are you guys fans?" Kaede gave Akito a sideways glance and he grinned, "Yeah, I guess you could say that." He laughed. He looked down at Kaede, "We'd better get going, or my little sister is gonna nail my ass big time!"

"Yeah, we'll see you there next Monday, bye Shuichi-kun!" she called, getting into the passenger's seat.

Just before she left, Ryuichi returned. She watched their conversation with interest from the car. "How'd it go?" Ryuichi asked.

Shuichi shook his head. "He… he ended it!" he whispered and began to cry.

* * *

"Ah, Eiri! How are things?" Tohma called happily.

"Don't ask!" Eiri answered. Quietly, he began to explain what had happened in the street, and his encounter with Shuichi.

"I see," Tohma said thoughtfully, "You my friend have a problem."

"I realise that!" Eiri snapped. Suddenly, and to Tohma's surprise, he put his head in his hands. "Shit, what've I done? I can't believe I did that to him again, after I promised him I wouldn't!"

Tohma wasn't sure if he meant breaking up with Shuichi or throwing him out in the first place, so he tried to find a tactful answer. "Well if you regret it that much, then do something about it!" he told him.

"Yeah, perhaps you're right." Eiri said softly.

What Eiri couldn't understand, was why he cared so much about their relationship all of a sudden. He didn't want Sakuma-san to have _his_ Shu-chan!

Shuichi had said that he didn't want their relationship to end. But how to fix what he had started?

It was about 4:00 pm by the time Eiri finally got home from his lunch with Tohma, and he was disconcerted when he discovered that the door to his apartment was unlocked. For a moment, he felt the wild hope that Shuichi had decided to come home and almost ran inside. In his haste to find his lover, he pushed the door wide open. He froze when he heard it click shut behind him.

"That was some stunt you pulled this afternoon Eiri-kun." A female voice rang coldly through his ears. "What, pray tell, where you planning to achieve by hurting him like that?"

Eiri spun around to face the speaker. "Who the hell are you?" he demanded. "How did you get in here?"

"If I told you Tatsuha-kun let me in, does that tell you who I am?" she asked.

"No! Come here where I can see you." Eiri ordered, now that she mentioned his younger brother, her voice was awfully familiar.

The young woman moved closer, revealing a pretty faced teen with long black hair and a curvy body. The only thing that gave any hint of her European Father was her normally cheerful glittering blue eyes, which currently looked like chips of ice.

He stared, then muttered the only name he could think of "Kaede."

She nodded. "Very good, Eiri-kun," She said, the sarcasm incredibly evident in her voice. "I'm impressed. You know you knocked me over this afternoon." She told him, her voice hard.

Eiri shrugged. "Sorry." He replied.

"No, you're not, but its okay, I'll forgive you this time." She said. "But what I _won't_ forgive is that little display you put on!" she snapped.

"How do you know what went on?" Eiri snapped back.

"I was close enough to hear. Plus, I heard it from Tatsuha, who heard it from Mika, who heard it from Tohma, whom, I believe, heard it directly from you. You should know word travels quickly in your family." She retorted.

"And I saw the devastated look on Shuichi's face when he helped me off the ground! You really hurt him!" She yelled.

_That_ made him take notice. "Really?" he asked, and she nodded. Eiri sat down hard.

Kaede's face softened and she knelt beside him. She rested a hand on his cheek, "What happened to you Eiri-kun?" she asked softly.

Eiri glared at her, "What? Tatsuha didn't tell you?" he said scathingly.

"Well yeah, he did. But even so, there's something behind all that. A fear of something…a fear of losing the one person that you have learned to love, and a fear of baring your soul to him." She whispered. She looked him straight in the eye, "You don't want to lose the most important person in your life all over again, do you Eiri-kun?" she asked him.

Eiri remained silent as she checked her watch. "I've got to go, but here." She handed him a card. "It's next Monday, at the Palladium. It would mean a lot to us if you'd come. The details are on the pass." She told him and he nodded.

Kaede turned when she reached the door. "I miss the old Eiri," she said, "Our big brother who looked out for us; who sat in the garage and listened patiently to a bunch of 8 and 10-year-olds that could hardly carry a tune!"

Eiri looked at her in surprise, and then found himself suddenly smiling. "He's still here somewhere." He answered, and put his hand over his heart. "I promise."

Kaede smiled back and closed the door softly, but not before hearing his final quip; "I hope you've improved since then, I don't think my ears could take it!" she chuckled to herself as she went downstairs.

Akito was waiting for her in the car. As they drove home he asked her; "Isn't this meddling? Perhaps we shouldn't interfere."

She looked at him sideways, "Perhaps, but I want Eiri to be happy, and he deserves it." She grinned, "Besides, didn't you see the look on Tatsuha's face when I said the words 'Shuichi', 'Ryuichi' and 'together' in the same sentence?"

Akito laughed. "That's true. All right, I see your point. Anyway, this could be fun; not to mention interesting."

Kaede smirked. "Exactly!" she said softly.

* * *


	4. Tohma's little extra

Thankyou to my wonderful reviewers of Chapters 1, 2, and 3. I'm glad that _most_ of you liked them! To the people who said that they didn't like my OC's or said they were unnecessary, I'm trying to add a little humour to the plot of this particular story. By the way, Kaede is _not_ a friend of Eiri's… at least not directly. It will probably be explained in this chapter or the next. I also thought that _Gravitation _is in desperate need of some female characters, Reiji and Mika and occasionally Maiko are all it's got at the moment, unless you count Judy Winchester. And how can you say Kaede's a Mary Sue? Her character hasn't been properly defined yet, for a reason. I haven't given her enough depth yet, so bear with me.

Also, please note that I'm going on the Manga alone; I have not yet seen the Anime because I am Australian and we can't get it over here yet. I have the first volume on order but it's taking forever to get here and it's costing me $50.00 Aust. Basically, we pay double for American DVDs.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gravitation, or My Happy Ending. I own Ancient Curse.

Just a little add on, has anybody heard _"Smashing Blue", "Sleepless Beauty", "Spicy Marmalade", "Glaring Dream", "In the Moonlight" _or_ "Shuichi's Theme"_? They are the best songs EVER!!! I live for _In the Moonlight_, a kick ass Bad Luck song for those of you who haven't heard it, and Shuichi's theme is the prettiest instrumental I have ever heard!

_Smashing Blue _and _Sleepless Beauty _are Nittle Grasper songs, if you've heard any of them, tell me, I need people to rave to! XD although, if you've seen the Anime then no doubt you've heard them, can anyone tell me if there are English versions of any of them?

**Missing Amethyst Eyes**

**Chapter Four**

"Shuichi?" Hiro waved his hand in front of his lead singer's face. "Shuichi! Shuichi! SHU!!!" he cracked the boy lightly over the head.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Hiro, did you want something?" Shuichi said blankly.

"Are you all right?" Hiro asked his best friend worriedly.

"Ah, yeah, I'm fine Hiro, honestly." Shuichi said tiredly. "I just didn't get much sleep last night."

Hiro grinned wickedly. "What? Ryuichi kept you up all night?" he asked.

Shuichi turned scarlet. "Yes actually, but don't be disgusting." He replied. "We sat up talking all night. Well actually, he did most of the talking, I was too busy crying." He sniffed.

Hiro put his arm around Shuichi's shoulders. "I can imagine, so what happened anyway?" he asked him.

Shuichi told him about what had happened in the street the day before.

Hiro whistled. "Well, what a fuck up that was! We couldn't have asked for a better situation for our plan!" he grinned widely. Seeing the look on Shuichi's face he sobered up. "Sorry dude, I know it's rough, but once this is over, you'll never have to look back." He told him soothingly.

Shuichi nodded. "Yeah I know, but that doesn't make the present any easier." He whispered.

"Well, cheer up for now anyway, we've got a song to record!" Hiro boomed happily.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me!" Shuichi said, rummaged in his shirt pocket. "Yuki crashed into some girl yesterday and she gave me a backstage pass for us to go to the Ancient Curse concert on Monday!" he passed the tickets around to the rest of the group.

"Cool! That'll be awesome!" Suguru said enthusiastically. It was the most excitement that the others had heard in his voice for quite some time.

"Su-chan's got the hots for the lead singer!" Hiro crowed delightedly.

"Shut up Nakano!" Suguru flushed a red colour. "I do not! I just think… they're really good!" he added, although Hiro had hit the mark fairly accurately.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure." Hiro nodded wisely and winked at Shuichi, who couldn't help but smile. So Suguru wasn't as immune to crushes as they thought he was.

K took a look at the backstage pass, a thoughtful look on his face. "How did she get her hands on backstage passes?" he asked.

Shuichi shrugged. "She said she won some radio competition."

'_That's a lie._' K thought. '_I'd know about a radio competition._' But he decided to let it go. He figured that it would make more sense when they got to the concert.

* * *

"Here," Eiri threw the backstage pass at his younger brother, who looked at it sullenly. "What?" he demanded rudely.

"Can't you control your bloody friends?" Eiri demanded.

This time, Tatsuha looked down at the pass more closely. He grinned like mad. "Why would I _want_ to control my friends I ask? Particularly one as uncontrollable as Kaede-chan?"

Eiri glared at him. "She was never that bad when you were little! You've corrupted her!"

"Now, now. Corrupted is such a _harsh_ word. I prefer the term taught. And yes, I did teach her well." Tatsuha corrected him. "And don't forget that eight or nine years have passed since you last saw her, she hasn't really changed." He sighed, "She's still a total goofball, and an absolute klutz. She may sing like an angel, but she's far from it. I should know, I'm her best friend."

He grinned up at his big brother, "Besides, I have no control over her, not really, she does what she wants."

Eiri glared at him harder still, if that was at all humanly possible. "Why in God's name did you let her into my apartment?" he demanded.

Tatsuha grimaced. "I didn't have a lot of choice in the matter. She looked really pissed when she came to see me. I don't know about you, but I've learnt not to cross her when she's like that. What did you do to piss her off anyway?"

Eiri growled. "I don't want to talk about it. Besides, I thought you would know already."

"What? That Shuichi left, then you dumped him and he's now dating _my_ Ryu-chan?" Tatsuha said gloomily, "Yeah, I heard a rumour."

"Yeah, no doubt from Miss Kurasawa." Eiri commented. He pointed at the pass, "So, you going to come?"

"Yeah, but I've already got one, you should invite Tohma and Mika and perhaps Noriko-san. I've already invited Ryuichi, before all this crap happened." Tatsuha answered.

"Yeah, whatever. Later!" Eiri answered and let himself out.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. You've basically given everybody involved in their little spat tickets to our concert. Are you _trying_ to cause trouble?" the blonde haired boy demanded of Kaede.

"I'm not trying to cause trouble Kai, I'm trying to help!" Kaede looked like she was about to cry.

The blonde sighed and walked over to his guitar and, ignoring the brunette, began to pluck at the strings.

"Question, _how_ exactly is this going to help? More to the point, _who _exactly is this going to help?" brown haired brown eyed Sanosuke asked her, more vocal than usual.

"How… well I don't exactly know. As for who, Eiri hopefully."

"Oh, you obviously found him then." A black haired girl who looked a lot like Akito said softly.

"More to the point, he ran into me head first." Kaede pouted.

"Yeah, then she met his boyfriend." Akito laughed, being his usual laidback self.

His sister looked at him, startled. "Boyfriend?" Akito nodded. She whistled, "Well, who'd have thought?"

"I know who _didn't_ think." Kai said softly from the corner where he was tuning his bass guitar. "I think you've bitten off more than you can chew Kaede."

"Awww, lay off her Kai." Akito said, putting his arm around Kaede's shoulder. He grinned mischievously. "Besides, we went to see Tatsuha, and he nearly had a coronary when we told him Shuichi Shindou was dating Ryuichi Sakuma."

"Dating? Isn't that a little sudden when you just told us you witnessed Eiri and Shindou's break-up?" the only member of the band who hadn't yet spoken, the blue haired Hatsuharu, asked.

Kaede grinned widely, "From what I can gather, it's a bit of a farce. But remember how Tatsuha-kun has always had a crush on Sakuma-san?"

Haru smiled. "As long as I can remember." He replied.

"Exactly. I don't know Eiri as well as I used to, but I can tell, from what I've seen on TV, that he's had a pretty rocky relationship with Shuichi Shindou." Kaede said.

"Yeah, and from what Tatsuha told us, he throws Shindou out of the house a lot." Akito added.

"So it could be a trick or a joke." Saki said softly, "I wouldn't put it past Mika or Tohma to try something like this."

"Well, we don't know them that well, particularly Tohma." Haru pointed out. "We should give them the benefit of the doubt."

"That's just like you Haru!" Kaede said with a giggle.

"Whatever, can we please practice, we have a concert in less than a week!" Kai snapped.

"Yeah, yeah, all right Mr. Boring, we're coming." Kaede sighed and took up a microphone.

* * *

"Oh really, some girl gave you backstage passes for the band? Cool!" Ryuichi said excitedly when Shuichi told him about what he had previously forgotten to.

"She said she won a radio competition."

"Wow, what did she look like?" Ryuichi demanded happily.

'_Trust him to be interested in something like that!_' Shuichi thought wryly. "Um, let's see. She had long black hair and really blue eyes, she was thin, but not excessively so. I suppose lithe would be a better word than skinny. She was fit, but quite attractive I guess, and she was pretty short, but taller than me. The guy who was with her was really tall, with black hair and green eyes. He looked pretty laid back. I think she called him Akito."

That made Ryuichi sit up and pay attention. "Did you get her name as well?" he asked.

Shuichi thought for a moment. "Um… I think he called her Kaede." He said.

'_I thought as much_' Ryuichi thought to himself, '_I may only have met her once, but she's hard to forget._'

He smiled at the pink haired star. "Actually I'm going too, I got invited by Tatsuha a little while ago. I think he knows the lead singer and she sent him a pass. They're from his neighbourhood I believe."

"Great, I'll see you there then!" Shuichi said.

Ryuichi studied him closely. The boy looked sad, understandably, and he hadn't got much sleep last night either. Not really knowing what to say, he patted Shuichi's shoulder awkwardly and smiled.

"Here's something that'll keep your mind off things." He said as a knock sounded on the door. "She flew in when she heard the news." He went to get the door.

"She flew… who flew?" Shuichi called after him. "She flew… Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no!!! It can't be!"

But it was. The one and only Reiji had come to visit.

Shuichi's first instinct was to run and hide, but he was rooted to the spot… there _was_ nowhere to run.

"Hello Shuichi." Reiji said politely, sounding almost sane, she looked like she was holding back. "How are you?"

"As well as is to be expected Reiji, thankyou for asking." Shuichi answered, equally as polite. "May I inquire as to why you are here?" he shuddered at the sound of his own voice. It sounded fake even to him.

"I'm in town managing a new band, they're doing rather well." Reiji answered.

"Oh, where are you working now?" Shuichi asked her.

"I'm working with Iceberg Records; I'm currently managing Ancient Curse."

Shuichi cringed. "Great, well I guess I'll see you at their concert then, I've got a backstage pass."

"Oh?" Reiji asked her voice dangerously quiet. "And how did you get one of those?" Ryuichi pulled her down to his height and whispered something in her ear. "Oh, I see." She said, frowning.

"Well, I guess you're doing all right for yourself, considering you couldn't get work at N G." Shuichi said.

Ryuichi winced, that was one of Reiji's sore spots. Sure enough she went off the deep end.

"And what makes you think I _wanted _the job at N G in the first place?" she demanded.

"Oh please! You followed me all the way to Narita, and now you have the audacity to say you never wanted the job! Don't bullshit me!" Shuichi laughed harshly.

Reiji, instead of replying, drew her cannon and fired a few shots at Shuichi's head. Shuichi ducked and Ryuichi grabbed Rage by the shoulders. "Calm down Rage! He didn't mean it! Maybe you'd better go and check on the band, I'm sure they need you!"

Having successfully disposed of Reiji's threat, Ryuichi helped Shuichi off the floor with a sigh. "You shouldn't provoke her like that baka!" he rebuked gently.

Shuichi sighed. "I know, but it's so easy. Half the time I don't mean to anyway, she's a loose cannon!"

"I know, but you should be careful. I've worked with her for a while now, and I've learnt that to survive, obey everything she says without question!"

That got a laugh out of the young teen, albeit a small one. He knew the Nittle Grasper star was probably, no, _definitely_ right.

* * *

Eiri was passed out on his bed; the alcohol from last night had finally caught up with him. He'd still been in the process of getting smashed when he'd visited his younger brother, but now it had hit him full on.

And another thing, Kaede's visit had really shaken him up. If he had really hurt Shuichi as much as she said he had, then perhaps he deserved the misery he was unexplainably feeling.

'_I thought I'd be better off without him!_' he thought to himself. '_But if that's really the case, then why do I feel so empty? So alone? I just can't figure it out! ARGGGHHH! I can't take this! Listen to me, I sound so totally and utterly pathetic!_' he continued this mantra for quite some time, the thoughts circulating in his brain.

Unable to stay still, he sat up and went into his study; he sat at his laptop and stared at the blank monitor, not really wanting to turn it on and write. To be quite honest, he had no idea what he would write if he _did_ turn it on.

'_Well there's something that hasn't happened in a while…writer's block!_' he thought wryly.

'**_Yes, in fact it hasn't happened since Shuichi came into your life!_**' another part of him said smugly.

'_So?_' Eiri said shortly.

'**_SO, you haven't been able to write anything since you knew for sure he wasn't coming home._**'

'_So? It's only been about twelve hours since I found out! That's no proof!_' Eiri retorted.

'**_Yes, but you tried to write after Kaede left and got nowhere!_**' the voice informed him, sounding even more smug than before.

"So what, you're trying to say that the brat's my muse or something?" Eiri said out loud.

'**_That's _exactly_ what I'm trying to say!_**' the voice answered.

"I know I wrote something last night!" Eiri argued, booting the laptop rebelliously.

'**_Yeah, something completely useless!" _**His better half retorted.

Eiri brought up what he had written last night in a drunken stupor. He stared at it for a minute, and then groaned. The stupid little voice was right!  
'**_Ha, ha! I win!_**' It crowed.

"Shut up! I'm going back to bed!" Eiri didn't even bother to shut the laptop down; he just left his work flashing on the screen…

**No matter what I do, no matter what I say**

**I just can't shake the feeling of wishing you were here.**

**No matter what I do, no matter what I say**

**I know deep down somewhere **

**That loosing you is what I really fear…**

**I tell my friends that I'm okay, that I don't need you anyway.**

**But I'm lying to myself again, 'cause I've got nothing left but pain…**

As he thought about what he had written, Eiri began to drift off into sleep. As he did, he thought hazily, '_I might add to that later, if I feel like it…'_

* * *

"C'mon Shuichi, let's go and get a bite to eat!" Hiro said, slinging his arm around his friend's shoulder, having not yet had the misfortune of meeting Reiji, he couldn't understand why the poor kid was freaking out.

"Okay, good idea!" Shuichi agreed readily. Anything to take his mind of Yuki. Briefly he wondered what the older man was doing. Shuichi missed him like crazy, and wanted to go back and beg forgiveness, this was _not_ good for his health, being separated from the one he loved more than anyone else.

They went down to the local McDonalds, it wasn't great for their voices, but it was quick and easy. They lined up and ordered, and Hiro picked up the tray while Shuichi went and looked for a table.

As they searched, Shuichi crashed headlong into someone. "I'm so sorry!" he gasped, but the other person just giggled.

"Nope, it's my fault again. Sorry Shuichi!" Shuichi looked down and locked eyes once again with Kaede Kurasawa. She smiled. "We're making a habit of this aren't we?"

"So it would seem." Shuichi helped her up. "Oh, Kaede this is Hiro, Hiroshi Nakano. He's our guitarist, but you probably know that already."

"Pleased to meet you Hiro." She said chirpily

"Likewise." Hiro replied with a grin.

"Come and sit with us! There's hardly room to move in here!" Kaede pleaded.

"All right, lead the way!" Hiro answered with good natured grin.

She led them outside to a table where four boys and a girl sat talking amongst themselves. They looked up as their friend came up to them. Akito saw Shuichi and grinned nonchalantly. "Well, we meet again Mr. Shindou." He said languidly.

"It's just Shuichi." Shuichi assured him.

"I don't believe we were properly introduced before. I'm Akito Misumi." The slightly younger boy added.

"Hey there Akito, it's good to see you again." Shuichi said with a smile. "I'm Shuichi Shindou and this is Hiroshi Nakano."

"Hi, call me Hiro." Hiro said. Kaede patted the seat next to her and indicated that he put the tray down.

"This is my sister Saki Misumi." Akito introduced the petite brunette next to him. She smiled shyly and both boys smiled back at her. "Be careful, she may seem shy now, but once you get to know her she's an insufferable know-it-all and incredibly bossy!" Saki hit him over the head and poked her tongue out at her brother.

"This is Kai Menagawa," Akito continued, pointing to the blonde with wine coloured eyes. Kai didn't even bother to say hello. "Don't mind him, he's always like that." Akito dismissed his behaviour as normal.

"The blue haired dude with all the earrings and tattoos is Hatsuharu Herikawa. Don't let his appearance fool ya though; Haru's not as mean as he looks. In fact, he's a real softie."

"Jeez, thanks for blowing my cover Akii." Haru said wryly. "I _was_ planning to beat them up." He joked.

"And last but not least is Sanosuke Nagisa. Unlike Saki, he really is the shy retiring type." Sano also poked his tongue out at his friend. His brown hair fell into his eyes and he pushed it back with the grace of one who had been doing it for a long time.

"Us boys are all eighteen or nineteen and the girls are both sixteen." Akito finished.

"You didn't introduce me!" Kaede pouted.

Akito sighed. "Kaede is the group's resident moron. I guess every village really _does_ have its idiot!"

"Hey! That's so mean!" Kaede sulked.

Akito grinned, "And she's a klutz to boot!" he teased.

Hiro laughed. "I've got one of those too!" he indicated Shuichi, who tried to push him off his chair.

When Kaede stopped bashing Akito's head in, lunch was quite enjoyable.

"You know, those guys were pretty cool." Hiro said later as they walked back towards the studios. "Kaede's the one who gave you those passes?"

"Yeah, but that's the first time I've met her friends." Shuichi replied with a smile as he recalled the craziness that went on back at the McDonalds table where they had left the group. "They're a riot!"

"Totally, dude why can't you have more friends like them?" Hiro teased.

"Awww, c'mon Hiro, you're sooooo mean!" Shuichi sulked, going all teary eyed.

"Yeah and you're way to easy to get to, it's almost sad, and it _is_ pathetic!" Hiro laughed.

"Like I said, sooooo mean!!!" Shuichi wailed.

They arrived back at the studio to continue on their new single, "My Happy Ending", which was going to be released the same day as the Ancient Curse concert.

When they got into the studio, Suguru was already hard at work. "Where have you guys been? We're _way_ behind!" He ranted.

"Relax workaholic! We're not that far behind, we ran into the chick who gave Shu the passes!" Hiro reassured the young synth player.

"Oh, well… we still have work to do so let's get to it." Suguru muttered quietly.

"Shuichi if you can get it right this one time, I'll let everyone go home early!" K cajoled the teen gently.

The prospect of going home early made Shuichi smile. "K, don't you think you should clear that through their _producer_ first!" Sakano yelled. K ignored him for as long as he could, shrugged and then put a bullet hole in the wall behind the frazzled producer's head.

"Then again, I wouldn't worry about it!" Sakano amended.

"If you're finished, may we start?" Suguru asked. '_Actually, going home early would be nice for a change!_' he thought wryly,

"YEAH!! Let's do it!" Shuichi yelled, and the music started up…

_**Oh, oh, so much for my happy ending**_

_**Oh, oh, so much for my happy ending**_

_**Let's talk this over, it's not like we're dead,**_

_**Was it something I did? Was it something you said?**_

_**Don't leave me hanging in a city so dead,**_

_**Held up so high on such a breakable thread.**_

_**You were all the things I thought I knew**_

_**And I thought we could be.**_

_**You were everything, everything that I wanted.**_

_**We were meant to be, supposed to be but we lost it.**_

_**All of our memories so close to me just fade away,**_

_**All this time you were pretending,**_

_**So much for my happy ending.**_

_**Oh, oh, so much for my happy ending.**_

_**Oh, oh, so much for my happy ending.**_

_**You've got your dumb friends, and you know what they say?**_

_**They tell you I'm difficult, but so are they.**_

_**But they don't know me, do they even know you?**_

_**All the things you hide from me, all the shit that you do?**_

_**You were all the things I thought I knew**_

_**And I thought we could be.**_

_**You were everything, everything that I wanted.**_

_**We were meant to be, supposed to be but we lost it.**_

_**All of our memories so close to me just fade away,**_

_**All this time you were pretending,**_

_**So much for my happy ending.**_

_**Oh, oh, so much for my happy ending.**_

_**Oh, oh, so much for my happy ending.**_

"Hey, he's really nailing it this time!" K said, impressed.

"Yeah, and they've only been doing the same song all week!" Sakano reminded him.

"Good point, but seriously, he's sounding fantastic!" K replied, unfazed by the tone of the producer's voice.

"Just shut up and listen!" Sakano said shortly.

_**It's nice to know that you were there,**_

_**Thanks for acting like you cared,**_

_**And making me feel like I was the only one.**_

_**It's nice to know we had it all,**_

_**Thanks for watching as I fall **_

_**And letting me know we were done!**_

_**He was everything, everything that I wanted.**_

_**We were meant to be, supposed to be but we lost it.**_

_**All of our memories so close to me just fade away,**_

_**All this time you were pretending,**_

_**So much for my happy ending.**_

_**Oh, oh, so much for my happy ending.**_

_**Oh, oh, so much for my happy ending.**_

_**Oh, oh, so much for my happy ending.**_

_**Oh, oh…**_

K broke into a round of applause. "Well done guys! You nailed it! You can go home like I promised." He said.

Shuichi let out a whoop of joy and bolted for the elevator, stopping only to grab his jacket. He waved as the elevator's doors closed behind him.

"I swear that boy should be living in Neverland." Hiro sighed. When Suguru looked at him quizzically he rolled his eyes and grinned. "He never grows up!" that startled a laugh out of Suguru.

Shuichi's elevator had gone down two floors when it stopped; the cafeteria. When the doors opened, Shuichi's heart stopped beating.

Who should be standing there, but none other than Eiri Yuki himself. The blonde took a step backwards, then determinedly stepped into the elevator beside his 'ex' lover.

The doors closed and they were silent a minute before Shuichi spoke. "What are you doing here?" he asked softly.

"Not that it's any of _your_ business brat, but I was visiting Seguchi." Eiri snapped. Shuichi winced and remained silent.

Actually what Eiri had said wasn't entirely true. He _had_ been to see Tohma, but he'd also been hoping to run into Shuichi as well, hence the reason he had been skulking in the cafeteria.

They had one floor to go before they reached the lobby, when disaster struck…

There was a power failure in the building. The lift ground to a halt between floors.

"Oh great, just great!" Eiri groaned and tried to pull the doors open, but they were stuck fast. Next, he tried the emergency phone, but when do they ever work?

"Looks like we're stuck here for a while." Shuichi said awkwardly. It felt weird being stuck in an elevator with Yuki.

"Yeah, no shit." Eiri said testily.

Shuichi sank to the floor to wait it out, he felt really nervous for some reason.

It didn't take long for the air to become stank and hot, and Shuichi stripped off his jacket to reveal his usual, rather becoming, rather revealing attire.

**(A/N: think the front covers of some of the Manga and the pic of Bad Luck on the front of the Box Set, the one with Shuichi in pink and Hiro in that leopard print top, then you'll get what I mean! XD) **

Eiri tried hard not to stare, but it was impossible not to, for him anyway. He was beginning to sweat, and not entirely because of the warm stagnant air inside the elevator.

He too took off his jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, trying to look as cool as he could, failing miserably in so many ways. He sat on the floor too, although he did so much more elegantly than Shuichi had.

Eiri felt the need to say something to the other boy. "I'm sorry… about the way I acted the other day." He said awkwardly. "Perhaps I overreacted a little."

Shuichi snorted, "That's the biggest understatement of the century!" he retorted.

Eiri frowned. "Hey, I'm trying to make amends here!" he replied heatedly.

"Well it's a little late for that don't you think?" Shuichi snapped. "You _ended_ our relationship for God's sake!"

"Hey, wasn't already over anyway? I mean, you _are_ dating Ryuichi Sakuma are you not?" Eiri demanded.

Shuichi blushed. "Well I… told you before, that I never wanted to end it, that I just needed to take a breather for a while, but you wouldn't listen! I can't keep taking that treatment Yuki! Why can't you understand that?"

Eiri felt kind of stupid, "Okay, so maybe I was a little hasty, can't we talk about this?"

The idiot was looking so appealing, just sitting there glaring at him with his big amethyst eyes. His sleeveless shirt was slipping off one shoulder and making him look unbelievably adorable and vulnerable to the novelist. He tried to ignore the rising emotions he was feeling by just looking at him, tried to crush them with little success. Plus, he was getting annoyed.

"Why would I want to talk about it? You've made yourself perfectly clear already!" Shuichi was tired of screwing around, he needed to vent.

"Or did you forget that?" he yelled.

Eiri sighed and ran his hand through his already tousled hair, his anger and frustration was building, as well as the feeling of _really_ wanting to kiss the brat senseless.

"Listen, I never wanted this." He began.

"Yeah? Well you should've thought of than earlier then, shouldn't you!" Shuichi yelled, tears falling from his eyes. "You're a little late Eiri!" he shouted.

Hearing Shuichi say his first name for the first time in ages nearly drove Eiri wild, and he still _really_ wanted to kiss him senseless.

Instead he said, as calmly as possible, "When are you coming back?"

Shuichi sighed. "You'll have to do better than that Yuki, a lot better!" he answered quietly.

Eiri swore and smashed his fist forcefully into the wall of the elevator, this was getting nowhere! And he was loosing control… fast!

"Yuki, calm down! I'm sure they'll fix the problem and get it moving again." Shuichi said, completely missing the real reason Eiri was so frustrated.

Eiri rolled his eyes, typical Shuichi to miss the point. "That's not why I'm angry." He said quietly. "Actually, I'm really pissed off at you." It was something Eiri would typically say to Shuichi at random, whenever he felt like it.

Shuichi's eyes stung. "Why? Yuki, I love you! Can't you see that? I just… need time." He was running out of excuses.

Eiri finally lost control. He stood and grabbed Shuichi's shirt, pulling him up with him. He pushed the teen against the wall and crushed his mouth against Shuichi's. Before he could stop himself, Shuichi kissed him back just as hard. Eiri slid his hand inside Shuichi's shirt and the pink-haired boy moaned into the taller man's mouth.

Suddenly, the elevator started again. They sprang apart and straightened their clothes as the doors opened. Shuichi swept out into the lobby and into the street, trying to still the pounding of his heart and leaving a bemused, desperate and confused Eiri behind him.

* * *

There was never a power cut.

Up in the security office, Tohma Seguchi smiled his famous smile. "Reconnecting elevator two to the network." He said. Turning to look behind him, he grinned at K, who grinned back and gave him a thumbs up.

"Isn't that a little dirty?" Hiro asked his manager.

"Maybe, but it's certainly made Eiri think about his situation." Tohma said.

"I suppose they thought the whole building was out." Suguru said thoughtfully, "I have to say, it was a pretty clever set up."

Tohma grinned. "Thanks, it _was_ pretty ingenious, if I do say so myself." He said cheerfully.

"Might I ask why you didn't tell us?" Hiro asked.

"Well, actually," K said bashfully. "I knew." Hiro and Suguru stared at him in surprise.

"Well why else would I let you guys go home early? I knew Shindou would practically fly through once he was no longer needed. And Tohma had told me earlier that Yuki was swingin' by, so we concocted this between us. We organised that you three would be released early and Tohma let it slip to Yuki what time Shuichi was getting off. Then when they both ended up in the same elevator we shut it down."

"What would've happened if they hadn't been in the same elevator?" Suguru asked.

"Then we would've done nothing." Tohma said. "But if there was a slim chance that it worked, we were going to take it." He laughed a little, in utter delight.

"You never answered my question, why didn't you tell us?" Hiro repeated.

"Well, I couldn't tell you without alerting Shindou, but I knew you'd be here longer than him, because you two actually take the time to pack up your gear." K answered. "So I explained after he left, and by the time we got here it was all over. In fact, it couldn't have gone better."

"How so?" Suguru asked.

"The plan was to put the power back on when one of them completely lost it, one way or the other… and boy did Eiri loose it!" Tohma laughed louder this time. "Actually, I was expecting a huge argument, not what we got."

Hiro shuddered. "I don't even want to know! I don't wanna think about it!"

Suguru shook his head. "Me neither, I leaving."

Hiro nodded and followed Suguru past a hyperventilating Sakano. Hiro led the producer from the room.

When they left K glanced at Tohma. "So, was it hot?" he asked, grinning.

Tohma giggled. "Totally!" he shot his fellow conspirator a sideways look, "Wanna look?" he asked cheekily.

K's grin widened, "Of course!" he laughed.

* * *

I was having major plot bunny problems for ages. I still am, but the one that was chewing at my brain for this fic finally died when I was watching Las Vegas the other night, when Mary and Danny were stuck in the elevator! I love Las Vegas!

Please read and review, I except criticism, but please don't flame me.


	5. The Ancient Curse Concert And the After ...

Try not to look at the songs I choose by who sings them. I've picked them based on their lyrics and how they fit the various relationships in this fic. It shouldn't matter that I picked an Avril Lavinge song, but the lyrics suited Eiri and Shuichi's relationship!

Also, I start school again tomorrow, my summer break just finished, which is why I've had so much time to update lately. Because I'm starting year 11 this year I've got to really work hard so please bear with me if it takes me a while to update!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Gravitation. Ancient Curse are mine.

**Missing Amethyst Eyes**

**Chapter Five**

Hiro had the day off, they'd wrapped up their preparation for their new single which was being released today so, as their song hit the stores, so did they. He was meeting his band mates for a celebratory dinner before the Ancient Curse concert that night.

He rounded the corner and practically crashed into Suguru. "Oh, hey Nakano!" the younger boy said cheerfully.

"Hi Suguru." Hiro answered equally as cheerful. "Fancy meeting you here!"

The boy grinned. "Indeed, what a coincidence!" he joked.

Suguru checked his watch. "We're a little early, and Shindou-san will probably be late, wanna check out the CD shop across the street?" he asked.

"Okay, good idea. And you know, you _can_ call us by our first names." Hiro replied with a smile.

Suguru smiled back. "I'll try and remember that." He said wryly.

They crossed over to the CD shop and went inside, they were checking out the Top Ten Singles, and there they were at no. 1 already.

"Nice going!" Hiro said with a grin, he hi-fived Suguru.

"Totally!" Suguru answered with a laugh.

Sitting at no. 2 on the list though, was Ancient Curse's new single _Summer Rain;_ it had been at the top of this store's list until today.

"You know, I wouldn't mind their album." Suguru said quietly.

"Yeah, and you probably wouldn't mind their lead singer either." Hiro teased him; Suguru blushed and glared at his friend.

"Do you mind? I don't even know her, so how can you say that?" he demanded, embarrassed.

"Nope, but it _is_ true isn't it? And you've seen the album covers, you're just going tonight so you can meet her right?" Hiro prodded.

"That's not the point!"

"Oh, so you_ do_ like her!" Hiro laughed. Suguru merely glared and remained silent.

Chuckling, Hiro crossed to the appropriate section and sought out the album. "Holy shit!" Suguru heard him say.

He went over and looked over his shoulder at the cover of the CD. "What's the matter?"

Hiro was grinning from ear to ear. "Remember the chick who gave us the passes?" Suguru nodded. "That's her!" Hiro pointed to the dark haired girl on the case. "That's Kaede. I can't believe I didn't recognise them!"

Suguru looked puzzled. "I thought you said she won a radio competition?"

"Nah, I guess she didn't want to be recognised. People treat you differently when you're famous remember?"

"That's true, will we tell Shuichi?" Suguru asked.

Hiro thought for a moment. "Nah lets not. I want to see the look on his face when he realises who she really is!" he laughed.

Suguru did end up buying the album. After he did so, they made their way to meet Shuichi, taking the time to browse through the shops in the mall on their way down to the restaurant where they were supposed to meet their lead singer.

* * *

Eiri too was heading to the concert. To be quite honest, he didn't really want to go. He had a terrible feeling that Kaede and Akito were up to something. He hadn't actually wanted to go in the first place, and since his encounter with Shuichi in the elevator, he _really_ didn't want to go. He wouldn't put it past Kaede to invite him too, and he really didn't think he had the strength to see him again.

The whole elevator thing was doing his head in. he kept replaying it over and over in his mind, he couldn't escape it.

"_When are you coming back?"_

"_You'll have to do better than that Yuki, a lot better!"_

_He stood and grabbed Shuichi's shirt, pulling him up with him. He pushed the teen against the wall and crushed his mouth against Shuichi's. Before he could stop himself, Shuichi kissed him back just as hard. Eiri slid his hand inside Shuichi's shirt and the pink-haired boy moaned into the taller man's mouth._

Eiri shook his head, trying to clear it of the longing thoughts that were running through it. He wanted Shuichi back more than anything. Perhaps now was the time to finally listen to his older sister, and work to bring him back… some serious sucking up was in order. He shuddered, sucking up wasn't exactly his strong point; it meant swallowing his ego… something else he wasn't particularly good at, and admitting he was wrong. Not so good at that either. He sighed and headed out the door, grabbing the car keys as he left.

He met Tohma and Mika outside the Palladium and they walked around to the side door, where they found Tatsuha and Ryuichi waiting for them. Eiri glared at Ryuichi, resenting his presence. The Nittle Grasper star just grinned cheerfully and jumped up and down on the spot.

They showed the guards at the door their passes and went inside. Tohma and Ryuichi were greeted frequently as they passed through the crowd of backstage staff. Eiri growled, just being in Tohma and Ryuichi's company was pissing him off, and he could see Tatsuha watching Ryuichi's every move as they passed through the throng of people.

Sure enough, as they continued their path through the throng of people, Eiri saw Shuichi, and Shuichi saw Eiri too. The met each other's eyes for an instant, then looked away.

"I don't want to be here!" Eiri muttered.

"Yes you do!" A cheerful voice said behind him. He turned and came face to face with a grinning Kaede.

"What makes you think that?" he demanded.

"Because you love me, that's why!" she answered brightly. Eiri muttered something about obnoxious teenagers.

Ryuichi came bounding up to her. "Me! Me! Do you remember me?" he asked excitedly, jumping up and down in front of her, his eyes wide.

She smiled at him. "Of course I remember you Sakuma-san. We met at Mika and Tohma's wedding, I came with Tatsuha."

"YAY!! You do remember me!" Ryuichi capered around happily.

"How could she forget?" Tohma quipped. "As I recall, you two almost put the hired musicians out of a nights work, what was it again? High-jacking the microphones and singing a Capella karaoke?"

Kaede grinned, "True, and it was _so_ much fun too!" She replied. "It's been a while Tohma, Mika. How are you?"

Tohma ruffled her hair, which already looked as if a bird had nested in it. "I'm good thanks Kaede-chan, how about you?"

"Great! I'm really looking forward to this concert!" she said excitedly.

"So are we." Mika said with a smile.

Ryuichi cut into the conversation again. "Kaede-chan, don't call me Sakuma-san, call me Ryu-chan!" he pleaded. "Being called by my last name makes me feel old!" he whined.

"Okay Ryu-chan, I'll try and remember that." Kaede told him.

At that moment, Noriko arrived, "Hi, sorry I'm late, I had trouble getting my husband and daughter organised before I left the house!" she panted.

She looked at Kaede and gasped. "You can't honestly be wearing that on stage girl! Oh, I'm Noriko by the way."

"I believe we met briefly at Tohma and Mika's wedding." Kaede informed her.

Noriko studied her closely for a minute. "Oh, so we have! Sorry about that… but you can't _really_ be wearing that on stage!" she sounded horrified at the mere thought.

"No, she's not!" Akito arrived behind his friend as she kissed Tatsuha on the cheek. Akito shook his hand and grinned at him. "Hey Tatsuha."

"Hey." The younger teen replied with a smile.

"Kaede you're meant to be in wardrobe!" Akito reprimanded her.

"Oh, I don't know, it's not so bad." Kaede said to her friend, looking down at her attire. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans with holes in them and a loose fitting t-shirt with the word 'Whatever' written across it. Her long hair was tied into a loose ponytail.

"No, it's not bad, it's terrible!" Akito answered, "You're putting us all behind!" as he dragged her away, she waved goodbye to everyone.

"Ooowww! Akii, you're pulling my arm out of its socket!"

"Awww, poor baby… You'll get over it!"

Shuichi was looking around the place with interest. He saw Akito pull Kaede away from the others, and watched them go towards the wardrobe department.

"There's Akito and Kaede, but what are they doing in wardrobe?" he asked Hiro and Suguru.

Suguru grinned and Hiro laughed. "You'll find out soon enough!" Hiro told his best friend, winking knowingly at Suguru.

They could hear Kaede pleading in the background. "Please Saki! Please! You'll look really good in it, I promise!"

"No I won't! I don't have the body for that sort of get up! Not like you do Kaede-chan!"

"Bullshit Saki! Complete bullshit! Now put… it… on!"

"No!"

"Kai! Help me out here would you?"

"All right, all right! I'll put it on, just quit bugging me already!"

"Kaede! You're needed in makeup as of five minutes ago!" Haru yelled from the makeup department.

"Coming!" Kaede screamed out of the wardrobe department at one hundred miles an hour.

Haru came over to Shuichi and the others; he looked exasperated and slightly angry. "I swear she does it every time!" he muttered, throwing his hands up in the air.

"I guess that's just the way she is." Shuichi said with a grin. "You look great by the way Haru." He still hadn't realised what was going on.

The boy grinned, and looked down at his attire. He was wearing a deep green, loose fitting shirt and tight leather pants. "Thanks, but wait til' you see Saki, she always looks fantastic on stage, but she's so self conscious she hates wearing tight stuff. No doubt you heard the yelling match her and Kaede were having over it?"

"Yes, we heard it." Hiro replied, watching Shuichi '_Man, he really is dense; I can't believe he hasn't figured it out yet!_'

Haru rolled his eyes. "I can't believe she tried to pull Kai into it again. Poor guy, he takes it all and ignores them both." The other boys looked at him questioningly. "Saki's got a huge crush on Kai, and although he doesn't show it, we're all pretty sure he likes her too. Kaede uses Kai to bully Saki into doing stuff she's uncomfortable with. Kaede keeps telling her it's good for her self esteem."

"Poor Kai, how does he take it?" Hiro asked with a grin.

Haru shrugged. "I dunno, how do any of us take it?" he replied.

Sano sauntered over, "Is Kasey running late again?" he asked. Haru nodded. Sano sighed. "Damn her, I can't get into makeup until she's finished, and they're still trying to get that birds nest out of her hair! Oh well, at least everyone else is done, I'm the last one, so we're almost good to go. Have you tuned up yet?"

"No, not yet." Haru answered. "I'd better go and do that now; I'll see you all after the show, at the after party yeah?" he waved and hurried away.

"Who's Kasey?" Shuichi asked, still missing the fact of who his new friends were.

"Kaede-chan; it's her nickname." Sano explained. "Her middle name is Cecilia, and the pronunciation sounds like her initials."

At that moment, the girl in question came tearing over, "Sano, you're needed over yonder!" she panted, bent double trying to regain her breath and pointing back the way she came.

"Finally, you are _so_ slow Kasey!" He answered. He too waved at the others and disappeared.

When she straightened, Suguru turned an impressive shade of pink. She was wearing a tight red mini skirt and a red midriff halter top. Her hair was loose and floating around her face. "You – you look great." He stammered and Kaede grinned. "Thanks." She replied.

"I'm Suguru Fujisaki." He introduced himself, regaining some of his composure, but still blushing furiously.

"Kaede Kurasawa." Kaede replied, also slightly flushed.

"How are you guys?" she asked.

"We're all right." The three boys answered in unison.

"Great! You are coming to the after party right?" Kaede said cheerfully.

"We wouldn't miss it for the world!" Shuichi told her with a happy smile; the happiest smile Hiro had seen on his face since this whole problem with Yuki had started the week before.

Haru came over from where he and Kai had been tuning their guitars. "You ready?" he asked.

"Yep! Let's go!" she replied with a happy grin. "Bye everyone!" she called.

"Bye!" a chorus of voices answered her.

"Isn't this exciting Shu-chan?" Ryuichi squealed hyperactively.

"Totally!" Shuichi answered excitedly.

The announcement came over the PR system "Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting… _Ancient Curse_!!!!!" Shuichi stared as Kaede walked onto the stage, followed by her friends, amid the screams of hundreds of fans.

"Huh? I don't get it! Why is she going on stage?" Shuichi asked.

"Isn't it obvious dumbass, Kaede and the others _are_ Ancient Curse! Honestly!" Eiri drawled from behind him.

Shuichi spun to face him. "I never asked you Yuki!" he snapped, and then he blushed as he remembered the other day in the elevator, as did Eiri. Hurriedly, they turned away from each other again.

"I just didn't know. They never said anything!" he murmured.

"They like to be treated normally when they can." Reiji appeared behind them. "The boys get chased a lot, so when they're not noticed, they don't complain, and they don't say anything… the girls have their fair share of fans as well, although they don't get chased as much."

"We know the feeling!" Shuichi, Hiro and Suguru said together.

"Uh-huh!" Tohma, Noriko and Ryuichi nodded in agreement.

Their attention turned to the concert. "Hey everyone! Thanks for coming out! I'm Kaede and these are my friends Akito, Kai, Sanosuke, Hatsuharu and Saki… together, we are Ancient Curse!"

The crowd went wild, all six of them waved before striking up the introduction to their first single. The crowd was singing at the top of their lungs. The atmosphere was electric.

"They certainly know how to work an audience." Shuichi commented.

"Indeed they do?" Tohma answered with a smile.

_**You have no idea…**_

_**That I'm walking the clouds when you're looking at me.**_

_**I'm feeling like a child, vulnerability.**_

_**I am shaking like a leaf, when you move beside me,**_

_**And you're all that I see, but it's no good for me.**_

Ryuichi snuck up next to Shuichi and put his arm around the boy's waist. Shuichi jumped about three feet in the air, but relaxed when he realised what was going on. Ryuichi looked at him with big puppy dog eyes and grinned at him. Shuichi smiled back softly, he would _never_ get used to this… never.

Eiri growled; this SUCKED!!! He had to do something about this, fast!

"Oi, brat, can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked testily.

Shuichi glanced at Tohma and Mika, who nodded slightly.

"All right, but this had better be good." Shuichi said agitatedly, he wanted to watch the concert in peace! But still, his heart was racing at the thought of being alone with Yuki, he was nervous about what his lover would say to him.

Eiri pulled him into a dark corner. "Look, I've been an idiot." He began. Shuichi snorted, but let him continue. "But I want to apologise for the way I've treated you. I don't know what went wrong, but I'm sorry."

Inside Shuichi was glowing happily, at last they were getting somewhere, but Yuki still had some _major_ grovelling to do. He wasn't going to get out of it quite _this_ easily.

"Thank you Yuki, it means a lot to me, to hear you say that. But I'm afraid that it's going to take more than an apology this time. This time, you have to work for it." He said, before turning on his heel and rejoining the others.

"Dammit!" Eiri swore to himself. Still, it was no less than he had expected; and he was prepared to take whatever action was necessary.

As Shuichi returned to his friends, he winked at Tohma and gave a thumbs up. Tohma grinned, as did Hiro, who had seen the silent exchange.

As Eiri came back, Ryuichi leapt forward and kissed Shuichi lightly, and you could almost see the steam coming out of the novelist's ears. And, to add insult to injury, Shuichi _looked_ as if he liked it. Eiri heard a sharp intake of breath from Tatsuha and he thought briefly how much this must be hurting _him_ as well. And there wasn't a single bloody thing either one of them could do about it.

_**Every night and every day now,**_

_**Though I know you've gone anyway.**_

_**Somewhere in my heart I'm always,**_

_**Dancing with you in the summer rain.**_

_**Oh my love, it's you that I dream of,**_

_**Oh my love, since that day.**_

_**Somewhere in my heart I'm always,**_

_**Dancing with you in the summer rain.**_

_**Doesn't matter what I do now,**_

_**Doesn't matter what I say.**_

_**Somewhere in my heart I'm always,**_

_**Dancing with you in the summer rain.**_

On stage, Kaede was watching them out of the corner of her eye. They'd picked their repertoire with the hope of influencing Eiri and Shuichi, and by the looks of it, it had worked… to a degree. She shot Akito a satisfied look and he grinned at her from behind his keyboards. She focused her attention back on the audience, trying to keep her eyes away from Suguru, to whom, although this was the first time she'd met him, (she'd seen him on Bad Luck's album cases) she was rather attracted to.

Suguru, from the side of the stage, wasn't doing as good a job as she was at averting his gaze. He could barely take his eyes off of her. He _did_ have to admit that Haru was right; Saki looked great in the short, tight black dress Kaede had bullied her into wearing, but still, Kaede herself was, to Suguru, the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

This didn't go unnoticed of course; Hiro had been watching the boy closely. He knew that look Suguru was wearing all too well; it was the same look he wore whenever he saw Ayaka. He decided not to say anything yet though, there was still time for Suguru to make a move on his own.

The teen's behaviour also caught Tohma's attention. He leant down slightly so he could whisper in Hiro's ear. "Suguru may have met Kaede briefly at my wedding, but she looks a lot different now than she did three years ago; she's lost a lot of weight since I last saw her, amongst other things. She's also gained a lot of confidence." He said. "I doubt Suguru even recognises her as the same girl."

Tatsuha overheard their whispered conversation and joined in. "I don't think Kasey and Suguru ever crossed paths at your wedding actually; she spent the entire day with me as I recall, until she and Ryuichi stole the microphones." He grinned slightly. "This is interesting, very interesting indeed!"

His voice trailed off when he noticed Ryuichi kissing Shuichi again. He growled softly and turned his attention back to the concert.

Ryuichi broke away from Shuichi and winked. "Oh, this is _so_ much fun! The look on Yuki's face was priceless! We'll have him begging you to come home by the end of the week!" he said delightedly.

"I dunno about that, but Tatsuha looks pretty pissed." Shuichi replied.

"Why is that, do you think?" Ryuichi asked, surprised.

Shuichi looked at the older man in wonder. '_Is he really that blind? Everyone knows that Tatsuha's totally in love with him!_'

"I'm sure he'll tell you when he's ready." Shuichi reassured him simply.

"Yeah, but now, Eiri's looking this way!" Ryuichi grinned and pressed his lips to Shuichi's.

_**Don't you think it's weird?**_

_**Weirder then weird?**_

_**That's what you are, that's what you wanna be,**_

_**What I like about you is what you like about me.**_

_**Don't you think it's… 1! 2!**_

_**I wanna make some changes; I want my money back,**_

_**I wanna start up again, yeah.**_

_**I wanna talk to strangers; I wanna be with you,**_

_**But I just don't know where or when.**_

Kaede was still watching from the stage, and she saw Ryuichi and Shuichi lock lips and frowned slightly, but smiled widely when she saw the look on Eiri and Tatsuha's faces. _Now _she waspositive that she knew what was going on.

One thing was for sure, the after party was going to be a_ lot_ of fun…

* * *

"How come you never told us Kaede?" Shuichi whined.

"Because we liked being normal too much, we didn't wanna wreck the experience!" Kaede replied with a wink. The starlet had come off stage looking tired but happy about ten minutes earlier and had already downed two bottles of water.

She looked at Akito. "Where did you plan the after party to be?" she asked him.

He grinned. "Reiji and I decided that it would be easier to have it at our place." We've got enough room for everyone." He answered.

So everyone piled into their cars and drove to Ancient Curse's home base; a rather large house on the outskirts of the city.

By the time everyone arrived, the band themselves had got there, brought out obscene amounts of alcohol and a lot of loud music.

"WOO HOO!! Party on!" Akito crowed, a beer in hand.

He offered one to Eiri, who took it with a grateful sigh. "Thought you'd never ask!" he said tiredly.

He tensed when Shuichi and Ryuichi entered the room, holding hands. Tatsuha came to stand next to him with a similar expression in his face. "Is this killing you as much as it's killing me?" his younger brother asked him softly.

"Yes, probably." Eiri replied simply.

Someone offered Kaede a wine and she shook her head. "No thanks. It wreaks havoc with my vocal chords… plus, I hate the taste of it." Saki, Mika and Suguru also declined the alcohol, claiming underage or, in Mika's case, pregnancy. Sano also declined for reasons known to none but his band mates.

The boys were having a lot of fun, just dancing and socializing; while Kaede was running around hyperactively trying to convince Suguru to dance with her.

"That girl doesn't need alcohol to act drunk!" Eiri grumbled.

"She's always been like that." Akito answered, his words were slightly slurred. "Why do you think she's the designated driver, between her and Sano, we can't go wrong most of the time. Saki can't drive until her sixteenth birthday in August though."

Suguru finally agreed to dance with Kaede after much bullying and pleading. She was still wearing the red skirt and top that she'd worn on stage back at the Palladium. To be honest, he'd found it rather hard to resist.

"So, tell me," she said, looking up at him. "This thing between Ryuichi and Shuichi, it's a set up isn't it? A plan to get Eiri and Tatsuha jealous."

Suguru looked around to see if they were listening. "Yeah, we were mainly focusing on Yuki… Tatsuha's just an added bonus."

"I thought as much, and may I say it's working incredibly well. Now, what can we do to help?" she asked with a wicked grin.

Suguru grinned back, "I dunno, I'm sure you'll think of something, how about we leave Tatsuha to you." He said with a laugh.

She smiled up at him. "Okay!" she chirped. She was silent for a moment, before she said, "Come with me!" she took his hand and pulled him from the room.

Ryuichi and Shuichi seemed to be in their own little world, and Tatsuha didn't like it any more than Eiri. The teen was jealously watching his idol and only love kiss his brother's lover.

Shuichi on the other hand, would never get used to being kissed by Ryuichi, and was glad that nothing was really going on between them past this little prank. He felt so… so awkward.

At least Ryuichi was having fun. Yuki walked past as they were standing in the corner simply chatting. Ryuichi spotted him and tugged on his sleeve. Shuichi sighed. '_Here we go again!_' he thought although this time it was him that kissed the older star, just to see Yuki's reaction to the fact.

Eiri was so busy watching them that he ran slap bang into his brother. "DAMN this sucks!" Tatsuha growled through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, but it looks like they're serious!" Eiri answered. He stormed over to them. "If you two are gonna fall all over each other like that, get a bloody room!"

_**I wanna take you for granted,**_

_**Drift while you're talking, bathe while you're downstairs.**_

_**And chat on the phone.**_

_**Fall asleep before bedtime, pass in the hallway, forget your birthday**_

_**And shrink all your clothes.**_

Shuichi broke his kiss with Ryuichi to glare at Eiri. "What's the matter? Jealous?" he asked triumphantly, barely keeping it from his voice.

'_Yes, very. It's driving me insane!_' Eiri was tempted to shout, but instead he said coolly. "You wish, as far as I'm concerned, Sakuma can have you."

'_Ouch. That's a little harsh!_' Tatsuha thought to himself.

Ryuichi had an idea. Smugly, he looked up at Eiri. "I intend to." He said, and without further ado, he leaned across and kissed Shuichi, rather more passionately that he had previously.

Neither Tatsuha nor Eiri could take any more. They had to get out of there before the sight of the two guys that they loved being together became unbearable. It was an almost simultaneous action as they went into the entrance hall and grabbed their coats, keys and, in Tatsuha's case, motorbike helmet.

They didn't get to the front door before there was a scream from the other end of the room.

Tatsuha, having an alarming idea on what had happened, immediately put his stuff down and ran back inside. Eiri, recalling a particular incident ten years ago, when he was thirteen, the boys eight and the girls and Tatsuha six, was hot on his heels.

Kaede had taken Suguru into their studio; where Ancient Curse practiced almost every day. The boy had no idea why she'd brought him there, and when he asked her, she was vague. "I thought you'd be interested is all." She answered. '_There is no way I'm going to tell you it's because I wanted to be alone with you._' She thought.

Suguru stared in amazement at the Rogue's Gallery on the walls. Amongst the AC posters there were pictures of the six friends when they were kids, holding guitars that were way to big for them and grinning madly into the camera. (Except Kai, who hardly ever smiled even then!)

Suguru stopped and stared at a photo of a ten year old Tatsuha with Kaede and Saki, and then another of Eiri at age fourteen with a seven year old Kaede, seemingly trying to convince her that the violin she was holding was the wrong way up. He grinned slightly, before his eyes moved to the poster of the band.

Kaede appeared beside him. "They did a good job with the air brush." She quipped. Suguru looked at her questioningly and she grinned. "I'm not _really_ that skinny you know!" she informed him.

She looked around the room with a reminiscent smile gracing her features. "We used to have so much fun with Eiri. He's a lot different to what he used to be like, he's so cold now. To be honest, Shuichi could've done much better than the Eiri of today, but if all that crap had never happened when Eiri moved to New York, they would've been perfect for each other." She looked sad. "He was like a big brother to me, to all of us." She looked at the ground, her hair falling in her face. "This room is really special to all of us; it holds all our happy memories; which is why we practice in here."

Suguru pushed a piece of her hair out of her face, and she looked up at him, startled. He leant down to kiss her, his face inches from hers. He could hardly breathe and could scarcely believe what he was about to do. Her eyes widened and she smiled slightly. Their lips had just touched when there was a shout. "Kaede! Come quick!"

She tensed and pulled away from Suguru, a faint blush stained her cheeks. "Uh-oh, that can't be good." She murmured. "Is it Sano?" she called.

"Yes! Hurry up!" Saki called urgently.

Kaede broke into a run, Suguru hot on her heels. "What's wrong? Sano couldn't be drunk, he wasn't drinking." He panted.

"And with good reason; Sano's anaemic, so he doesn't drink in case he collapses, alcohol in his blood system can make things even worse that they already are. It's already life threatening enough."

When they reached the others, they found Sano on the floor surrounded by everybody else, frozen with shock. Saki was kneeling beside him.

Kaede checked his pulse. "He'll be all right if we get help now." She looked around; everyone was rooted to the spot. "Dammit! Suguru, call an ambulance! There's a phone in the kitchen!" she ordered the only person who was composed enough to listen. He nodded and ran for the phone.

Within ten minutes, an ambulance was parked outside the house and paramedics were loading Sano into it. Saki was really shaken and worried, as was everyone else. So Kaede and Mika drove everyone to the hospital, following the ambulance, Saki went with Sano.

When they arrived, they were greeted by a doctor who had some rather unpleasant news for them. "The hospital is experiencing blood shortages and we don't have any of Sanosuke's blood type. He needs a transfusion as soon as possible and it'll take forty-eight hours for one to arrive from another hospital. Do any of you have blood type AB?"

"I do." Shuichi said softly. Eiri stared at him, scarcely believing what he was hearing. Would he give his blood to someone he hardly knew?

"Would you be willing to give Sanosuke a blood transfusion?" the doctor asked him.

Shuichi nodded his affirmative. Eiri grabbed him. "But you hate needles!" he said pathetically. Shuichi ignored him and followed the doctor and a nurse into a private room.

Kaede swung around to face Eiri. "What Shuichi's doing is an amazing act of kindness! You would've done it yourself once."

"Well, yeah but…" Eiri protested.

"Listen to me!" Kaede snapped, her patience running out. "Sano has a girlfriend back home in Kyoto. If you want to be the one who tells Ichigo, not to mention his parents and little sister Yurika that he died because _you_ wouldn't let Shuichi give him blood, then by all means, stop him now!" she raged.

Haru came up and put his hand over her mouth. "That's enough Kasey, be quiet." He said softly.

Eiri said nothing, what _could_ he say? He was being pathetic and over protective… irrational even. He couldn't stop Shuichi from giving Sano his blood. Besides, Kaede was right; if he could've given his, he would've. But he couldn't help but worry about _his_ brat.

Minutes later, Shuichi emerged with a bandage around his right arm. Eiri really wanted to rush over and see if he was all right, but Ryuichi beat him to it. The chibi Nittle Grasper star raced over to the pink haired teen and attached himself to the younger boy's waist. He tugged on his uninjured arm, helping him over to the nearest chair. "Does it hurt Shu-chan?" he asked.

Shuichi grimaced. "Like hell, but I'm sure it's nothing compared to how Sano feels right now."

They waited for what seemed like hours, Ryuichi spent the time fawning over Shuichi and complying with his every whim (Which included a few kisses; which really pissed off Eiri and Tatsuha, if it were possible for them to be any angrier.) and worrying over him as if he was going to die.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the doctor returned and told them that Sano was going to be fine.

"You can go and see him now." The doctor informed them.

The group trooped into Sano's room, and he grinned tiredly at them. "Hey guys. Phew! That was a close one!" he said cheerfully.

"Too close! Don't scare us like that Sano!" Kaede rebuked him gently.

"I'm sorry, I really am." Sano looked across to Shuichi. "Thanks for the transfusion, you saved my life!" he said earnestly. "I'm indebted to you."

Shuichi turned a shade of pink that rivalled his hair. "It's nothing really, I'm glad I could help!" he replied.

The doctor entered the room to see to Sano and to check Shuichi's arm. He looked at the teen. "I'm sorry we had to take your blood Shindou-kun. But this hospital's low on funds, particularly when it comes to things like transfusions; people just don't donate their blood anymore." He apologised.

"It's all right, really. I didn't mind." Shuichi repeated.

The doctor left again, and the friends remained and just talked amongst themselves.

Suddenly, Ryuichi stalled any further talk when he began to jump around happily. "I know! I know what we should do!!" he cried happily.

"Do?" Noriko asked him. "What are you on about Ryu-chan?" she demanded.

"We can hold a benefit concert for the hospital!" the chibi Nittle Grasper singer said excitedly. "All proceeds can go towards funding the hospital, and we can petition the audience to give blood for the blood bank!"

Tohma looked thoughtful. "Y'know, that's actually not a bad idea. Of course, in order to get the audience to giver theirs, we'd have to donate as well… we can use what happened to Sano tonight as an example. All his fangirls will be clamouring to donate if they think they can help him out somehow." He said.

Kaede looked down at Sano. "What do you think?" she asked him.

He smiled. "I think it's a great idea. But you'd better check with the doctor in charge." He answered.

Wordlessly, but with a slight smile on her face, Saki got out of the chair she'd been sitting in and went in search of the doctor. Akito promptly sank into the chair she had vacated. "Phew, what a night! I'm exhausted!" he said.

"Yeah, and you're also very drunk!" Kaede reminded him. He grinned at her.

"Why is it always me who's gotta fix everything? Why can't you be sober for a change? Then I might be able to enjoy myself!"

"But you don't drink anyway!" Akito protested.

Kaede glared at him. "That's not the point!" she snapped, turning slightly red and glancing quickly at Suguru, who coloured too. Akito stared at her for a moment, watching the exchange with interest.

The doctor came back in, Saki trailing behind him. "I think your idea is wonderful! Thankyou!" he said.

"YAY!!!" Ryuichi squealed joyfully. He capered around like a hyperactive puppy.

"I'd like to keep Sanosuke in overnight for observation, just as a precaution. But he should be fine by morning." The doctor continued.

"That's wonderful, but I think we should be going now." Reiji replied. "One of us will come and get him tomorrow, but this has been a trying night for all of us." She smiled wryly. "And most of you'll have hangovers in the morning

Kaede nodded. "Yeah, she's right. We'll see you tomorrow Sano." She said, she kissed him lightly on the forehead, and Saki did likewise, the boys, Tatsuha and Eiri each clasped his arm as they went past, while the members of the other bands waved and wished him well.

Eiri swept out of room after saying his goodbyes. "Eiri, are you catching a cab back to our place?"

"Nah, I'll catch a lift back with Mika and then go home. Don't worry, I'm still pretty sober." He reassured her.

Only Kaede saw a small piece of paper fall out of his wallet as he pulled it out to buy a coffee on his way out.

The girl picked it up and studied it. It was a print club photo of Eiri and Shuichi, taken not that long ago.

An idea suddenly stuck itself in her head and she grinned wickedly. She pocketed the photo and went to find Hiro.

"I've got an idea." She said and whispered her plan in his ear. A slow smile spread over Hiro's face and by the time she'd finished he was grinning madly.

"I like it!" he told her. He ruffled her hair, "You're a genius!" he informed her.

"Don't you forget it!" she joked.

"Care to let me in on whatever it is you're on about?" K asked them cheerfully. Kaede explained her idea to him.

"Hey Tohma, Suguru, come over here! I think you'll like this!" he called.

They did. They liked it a lot. Tohma grinned widely and Suguru agreed that it _would _be heaps of fun to watch Eiri squirm.

"This'll be _so_ much more interesting than the elevator!" Tohma said gleefully.

"Elevator?" Kaede queried.

"We locked them in an elevator together! It was hilarious." K told her.

She giggled. "I'd love to have seen that!" she said.

"That can be arranged. I kept the surveillance tape!" Tohma reassured her.

"Excellent!" Kaede giggled harder.

The group left Sano to enjoy the peace and quiet. As they reached the main entrance of the hospital, Suguru grabbed Kaede's hand. "I – I'm sorry about earlier, when I…"

"When you kissed me?" she finished for him with a smile. Hiro's ears perked up and he listened intently.

Suguru flushed. "Yeah. I don't know what came over me. Can you forgive me?" he asked.

"Of course I can! There's not really anything to forgive!" she answered. She reached up so she could whisper in his ear. "It never happened, right?" she smiled, waved and walked away.

"Right." Suguru smiled back and returned her wave.

But neither of them could really deny it happened, neither of them _wanted_ to deny it happened. It was just easier this way right?

"Su-chan you moron!" Hiro hit him lightly over the head. "What are you thinking, letting a chick that hot get away?"

"Nothing, I was stupid to kiss her in the first place!" Suguru said.

"Maybe, maybe not." Akito came up to them. "I _thought_ she was acting strangely."

"Sure, whatever." Suguru said glumly and began to walk towards the car.

Akito and Hiro watched him leave. "I know she likes him. We'll just have to do something about this, now won't we my friend!" Akito murmured delightedly.

"Indeed. This is getting _very_ interesting." Hiro replied. "Hey Suguru! You wanna come with me to get some photos for Kaede's plan?"

"All right!" the boy called.

"Later Akito."

"Later." He replied as Hiro followed Suguru.

Hiro was right about one thing. Things we getting interesting. Very interesting indeed.

* * *

What is Kaede's plan? You'll have to read and find out! Please R&R!

By the way, I made a mistake; I said that Kaede's father was European, but that can't be right if her last name's Kurasawa. Not many Japanese people have blue eyes; therefore it must be her mother that is European, just ignore the previous information and take this to be true instead! Thankyou! I'm such a dumbass ne? Wait… don't answer that…


	6. Kaede's Plan and what went wrong

Chapter 6 is here and we are going to find out about Kaede's plan! I was originally going to make this chapter really funny, but as I was sitting up in bed at midnight writing this, it turned into this super depressing cry-fest! And beware of the fluff!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Gravitation… unless you count the fact that I _finally_ got my hands on the first DVD this week! however, they poem that is mentioned in this chapter and in chapter 4, i think it was, belongs to me.

* * *

**Missing Amethyst Eyes**

**Chapter 6**

"Do you think this plan of hers is going to work?" Suguru asked Hiro when they pulled up at Shuichi's parents' house.

"I don't know, but who cares, its going to be funny to watch!" Hiro chuckled.

The two came to the front door and knocked on it lightly. It was pretty early in the morning. They'd planned to go over last night, but when they got back to Kaede's house they'd realised it was past midnight and thought the better of it.

Maiko answered the door, still in her pyjamas. "Hiro? What are you doing here this early in the morning?" she demanded sleepily.

"Sorry Maiko, but we haven't been to bed yet so we're a little bit hyper. Not that that's got anything to do with us being here early or anything." Hiro informed his best friend's sister cheerfully.

"Whatever, just tell me what you want so I can go back to bed." Maiko muttered.

"We need photos. You see…" Hiro told Maiko about the situation and about Kaede's plan.

A slow smile spread across the girl's face. "You are positively evil! I like it! Well, I'm awake now anyway, so I might as well help you." She replied.

On the way inside, Hiro introduced her to Suguru. And Maiko lead them to a bookshelf in the study. "All the photo albums are in the bottom shelf. Take your pick." She said.

The three of them sat down and began to sift through the piles of photographs.

"Oh my God, look at this!" Hiro chuckled, holding up a photo of Shuichi in Junior High. It was a picture of their first band practice.

"Oh yeah, I remember that, I think I took that picture!" Maiko answered with a soft laugh.

"What about this one?" Suguru said with a lopsided grin, passing Hiro a photo of a three year old Shuichi grinning up into the camera, his fingers held up in a peace sign.

"Excellent!" Hiro replied.

And thus it continued. They were there for most of the morning, until they came up with a decent stash of pictures to use for Kaede's plan.

* * *

Meanwhile, Tatsuha and Kaede where on their way to Eiri's apartment. "Do you think this is a good idea? He's going to catch on to us if we ask him for photos."

"Nah, my guess is that he drank more when he got home and last night, and is currently passed out on his bed." Tatsuha said as he parked the motorbike outside the apartment. Kaede got gingerly off from behind him. "Remind not to ride with you again for a long time!" she groaned.

Tatsuha grinned and the two made their way up to Eiri's apartment. Tatsuha used his spare key to let them in, and they tiptoed silently inside. Eiri was nowhere to be seen.

"I'll bet you he's got a secret stash of photos around here somewhere, Eiri's more sentimental than he lets on." Tatsuha said softly.

Kaede nodded and checked the bedroom. Sure enough, there was Eiri, asleep on the bed, still wearing his clothes from last night. There was about twelve empty beer cans scattered around the room.

"I told you." Tatsuha said, "An atomic bomb couldn't wake him now!"

Kaede went silently into the room and pulled the dishevelled covers over her 'big brother'. She then gathered up the beer cans and threw them in the bin.

"You're such a softy." Tatsuha said with disgust.

"Maybe." Kaede replied with a soft smile. Eiri turned in his sleep and murmured what sounded suspiciously like "Shuichi!"

They left Eiri in the bedroom and went into the office. The laptop was on and blinking. The two friends began to search through the bookshelves for photo albums of any description, and found nothing. They searched for at least two hours all over the apartment and came up with a consistent zero.

"Maybe I was wrong." Tatsuha said finally. "Maybe he really is a cold hearted bastard!"

Kaede shook her head. "No, I don't think so. We're missing something." She replied. She was staring in the direction of the laptop.

Suddenly it hit her. The laptop! Could Eiri have saved any photos onto his laptop? Immediately she sat down and began to trawl through the hundreds of word files that housed Eiri's novels. Finding nothing, she began to search through the folders he'd created.

First she tried 'My Pictures' and drew a blank, so she kept searching until she finally came across a folder marked 'The brat and me'.

"Bingo!" she said triumphantly. Tatsuha came to look. She clicked on the folder and it asked for a password. "Damn. I think he's paranoid about Shuichi finding these." She noted dryly.

She tried a number of different passwords that had something to do with Eiri, Shuichi or both. She was about to give up when Tatsuha reached across her and typed "_Bad Luck_" into the password space. It worked and lo and behold, there were about twenty photos sitting in there.

"It's better than nothing, bring them all up and print a colour copy of them, we better motor before he wakes up!" Tatsuha said. Kaede nodded and began to call up the photos one by one and hitting the print button.

When she finished the photos and came to the end of the scroll bar, she found a word document as the last item in the folder.

She clicked on it, immediately interested. She read it with interest.

_I thought I was in control of our relationship; the dominant one, for it has always looked that way. But now it seems that you were pulling all the strings, and now that you're not here, I feel completely lost. Perhaps I really am the weaker link in our relationship, for you seem to be doing a lot better without me that I am without you... I don't understand why._

Kaede drew in a sharp breath. This whole thing with Ryuichi was tearing him up inside, and there was nothing he could do about it. What was he going to do when he realised that it was all a trick? "_So Eiri is more vulnerable about their relationship that everybody thinks!_" she mused.

As she kept reading, she realised that the rest of the document was a poem.

_**It's late at night, I close my eyes and I'm alone again.**_

_**But still I see, enclosed in darkness you and me,**_

_**A vision dancing in my sight.**_

_**No matter what I do, no matter what I say,**_

_**I just can't shake that feeling of wishing you were here…**_

"Methinks the inspiration's gone." Kaede murmured wickedly to herself. She swiftly printed out a copy, she didn't need to read any further to understand what was going on, or what she had to do.

* * *

When Eiri woke later that afternoon, he found a note on his kitchen bench from Tatsuha and Kaede.

**Hey Eiri nii-chan!**

**We came by to see if you were okay and you were asleep so we tidied up a bit and left again. Talk to you soon, **

**Tatsuha and Kaede.**

**P.S swing by the studio later today and listen to us record our new single. The gang and I would love it if you did!**

**Love Kaede-chan!**

Eiri smiled slightly that the 'big brother' honorific at the top of the note. That was definitely Kaede and not Tatsuha. The little brat hadn't changed that much really; she was still the annoying, bossy, klutzy troublemaker he had known since he was seven.

He decided that he'd go down and listen to Ancient Curse's recording session, just to take his mind off Shuichi for a while.

He didn't realise what a bad idea that was. Naturally, if he knew Kaede was a troublemaker, wouldn't you think that he'd realise that she had something up her sleeve?

Apparently not.

Maybe Eiri Yuki's not as bright as everybody gives him credit for, because he _really_ didn't see this one coming…

* * *

After they got back from Eiri's apartment, Kaede and Tatsuha made their way back to NG to begin setting up for Kaede's plan. She now wasn't so sure, after reading Eiri's note at the top of that poem, that this was a good idea. '_But,_' she thought to herself, '_this might help him open up a little, if he can admit his feelings openly to himself, he might make it through. Besides, I doubt his psyche could get any more damaged than it is no matter how hard anybody tried._'

Still, she couldn't help but worry about it a little. So she sought out Tohma to tell him of her concerns.

Quietly she told him about her reservations and showed him the note and the poem. He read it, eyebrows raised and a slightly surprised look in his eyes.

"Kasey, this is either going to work, or it's not. But I still think we should give it a try." He said gently. "It might help him to admit his feelings for Shindou once and for all." He added, repeating her own thoughts. "Eiri's strong; he'll come out of this just fine. Pissed off, screaming and ranting… probably at you and me, but just fine."

Kaede nodded, but she couldn't help but be a little apprehensive.

_You seem to be doing a lot better without me that I am without you…_

Would this make him or break him? She didn't know.

* * *

Eiri swept into the studio an hour later, just as they finished setting up the plan. He had the famous Eiri Yuki 'I don't give a shit' ™ look on his face as he walked through the building.

He wondered briefly why Ancient Curse were recording at the NG building, then he remembered Tohma saying something about Iceberg Records being associated with NG… in other words, Tohma owned them both.

He found out what studio they were in from the receptionist and made his was up via the elevator, the same elevator he and Shuichi had occupied last time he was here. He beat his head against the wall of the elevator as the memories of that meeting came rushing back.

Being away from _his_ brat was almost killing him, he wanted him back, but didn't have the faintest idea of where to start.

"_Why do I care so much anyway? It's not like I really _love_ the little brat, I just got used to having him around all the time_" he thought to himself.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Eiri stepped out into a silent, empty studio.

"Humph, maybe they've finished already. Good, that means I can go home!" he said to himself.

There was a giggle from behind him. He turned, expecting to see Kaede, but instead, Saki was standing behind him. "No, you can't go home yet, Kaede's held everybody up again is all. C'mon, they'll be here soon."

Saki took his hand and led him into the studio. She let him go in before her and waited by the door until he registered what he was seeing…

"Shu – Shuichi?" he stammered.

Plastered across every square inch of the walls inside the recording booth, were the pictures of Shuichi that Hiro and Suguru had collected from Maiko, and the photos of Eiri and Shuichi together that Tatsuha and Kaede had filched from Eiri's laptop that morning.

Confused, Eiri swung around to face the smiling Saki.

"I'm sorry Eiri-kun. This is probably going to hurt like hell, but I hope it'll help you understand your feelings for Shuichi." She slammed the door in his face and locked it, before entering the sound area to join the others.

Kaede waved to him through the glass. "I'm sorry too Eiri, but we have to do this." She said. "It's for your own good." She nodded to Akito and he began to roll the songs.

The three of them left the sound area and went upstairs to the surveillance room to observe with the rest of the band, Tohma and the Bad Luck team. Ryuichi had been deployed to keep Shuichi busy for the day, so they could do this without him knowing.

Eiri pretty much flew into a rage and began bang his fists against the doors. The music playing through the booth was all romantic cry, cry, cry broken heart kind of stuff… the stuff that usually made him want to throw up. But when he realised that there was no way he was going to get out of there until Kaede said so, he sat himself in the corner of the booth and stared up at the walls, and the never ending smiles of happy memories.

"I hope he'll forgive me for this." Kaede said sadly, and Haru put his arm around his friend to comfort her. She leaned against him with a sigh and prayed to any God or Goddess who was going to listen that her plan worked.

* * *

"Oooohhh! Look at that Shu-chan! And that! And that!" Ryuichi shrieked excitedly. The uber-cute Nittle Grasper star was running happily all over the mall looking at various things, pulling his pink-haired friend with him.

"Yeah, cool!" Shuichi said half-heartedly.

Ryuichi stopped in his tracks and faced him. "Now look Shu-chan! You have the day off, so enjoy it okay! No thinking about work or Eiri Yuki. Got it!" he reprimanded him gently.

Shuichi smiled. It _would _be nice to not have to worry about anything, especially Yuki, just for a while. "Okay, let's go have some fun!" he replied.

"YAAAAAAYYYY!" Ryuichi yelled happily and Shuichi again felt himself being pulled along by his hand.

Ryu-chan's hyperness was catching, and Shuichi found himself genuinely grinning for the first time in ages as his friend dragged him along.

Ryuichi turned out to be a real shop-a-holic. The bemused Shuichi found himself being towed into nearly every shop they passed, and the older boy rarely left a store without buying something. "_Which explains why there's so much junk in his apartment._' Shuichi thought wryly.

The two singers sat down a few hours later to have lunch together in the corner of a small restaurant so as not to be seen, or more to the point recognised by anybody.

"So how are you holding up Shuichi?" Ryuichi asked him as their meals arrived.

"As well as can be expected I guess." Shuichi replied. "I've run into him a few times since… since we broke up. Other than the concert that is." He said. He told Ryuichi about the elevator incident, but in a lot less detail. It made Ryuichi laugh.

"Speaking of the concert, what do you think about Kaede and Suguru?" Ryuichi queried.

"What about them?" Shuichi asked, glad that the talk had turned from him and Yuki.

"What about them? Dude, I thought everybody knew they liked each other!" Ryuichi exclaimed.

"Well, I knew that Suguru liked Kaede, but that's the only thing I do know!" Shuichi said, intrigued now.

"Well, Akito told me that Suguru kissed her at the party the other night!" Ryuichi said excitedly.

"Really? How come nobody told me?" Shuichi pouted cutely.

"I'm sorry, I guess there was just a lot of other stuff going on?" Ryuichi apologised.

"What other stuff?" Shuichi asked immediately.

"_Opps, better be careful! Don't wanna let anything slip!_" Ryuichi berated himself. "Nothing much. Nittles stuff." He said vaguely and changed the subject.

* * *

"Dammit Kaede! Let me outta here!" Eiri ranted, but to no avail. All he heard in reply was the echo of his own voice, and the lyrics of a song playing through the small area.

He'd soon gotten tired of staring at the walls, and he'd been pacing up and down ever since.

_**I guess it all went wrong, and I'm the one to blame,**_

_**Takin' you for granted in so many ways.**_

_**And when I look back now, how could I ever forget,**_

_**You made me so happy the day we met!**_

AAAARRRGGHH! Damn lyrics were driving him insane, every word reminded him of Shuichi, and it hurt, like hell. Just like Saki said it would.

A loose photo drifted away from the wall. Eiri picked up the small picture and realised with a jolt that it was the print club photo that he had lost the night before. As he studied the photo he became suspicious. He studied the photos around the room more carefully, and he recognised some of them as the ones in his laptop.

Suddenly he understood why Kaede and Tatsuha had been at his apartment that morning. They'd come to get photos and hacked into his laptop to get them. "_Ooohhh, they are sooooo frickin' dead when I get out of this fucking room!_" he thought to himself.

"We came to check on you huh? What a load of bullshit that was Kaede!" he said sarcastically.

"I think he figured out why we were at his place this morning." Kaede said dryly up in the surveillance office.

_**How could something so magic, magic**_

_**Become something so tragic, tragic?**_

_**Right before my eyes, two separate lives.**_

_**Every second was a precious moment, **_

_**Now I'm thinking 'bout the path I've chosen. **_

_**Wish I could unmake my big mistake…**_

_**I guess it all went wrong, and I'm the one to blame,**_

_**But what I wouldn't give to have you back again!**_

Eiri groaned and steeled himself for what was going to be a long stay in the recording booth.

Finally getting sick of pacing the room, he sat down in the corner again and looked down at the tiny photo he held in his hands, a thought suddenly occurring to him. Maybe Kaede _wasn't_ simply trying to make his life miserable by shutting him in here, maybe she was trying to get a point across.

Saki's words suddenly rang in his mind. _"I hope it'll help you understand your feelings for Shuichi."_

Was that what this was about? He had to admire their courage; by forcing him to face up to his feelings for Shuichi, there was no way he could lose him. Right?

He looked back over the last few weeks, since Shuichi had begun to date Ryuichi. He thought about how quite the house was without the hyper teen bouncing off the walls each night, about how nothing he'd written since Shuichi had left had been any good, _if_ he'd felt like writing at all. And about whenever he'd thought about his lover, he'd always thought of him as _his_ brat or, _his_ Shuichi or, _his_ Shu-chan. The boy belonged to _him_. That was just the way it was meant to be.

'_It's not like I really love the little brat.'_ Eiri's words came back to haunt him. Was that really true? Did he really care so little for the one person who had made an effort for _him_… without wanting anything in return?

He thought about all the times he'd pushed the boy away, verbally abused him, hurt him. No matter how many times he did something cruel like that, the teen still came back, nothing different; nothing changed. Nobody deserved that.

Did anyone deserve to be treated that way? Of course not… but then why did the kid stick around for as long as he did? It was a mystery… _he _was a mystery.

'_It's not like I really love the little brat.'_ The words echoed again.

"_Maybe I do love him. Yes, I think I do! Why else would I be sitting here thinking about him, wishing he was here with every fibre of my being? Damn that's clichéd!"_

Out loud he said; "I love you, Shuichi."

The music stopped and the door to the recording booth swung open, revealing a happy Kaede on the other side of the door. "I'm sorry we did that to you Eiri-kun, but I think you understand why we did it."

"Yeah, I do. Thanks kiddo." He said, and ruffled her hair. "But that doesn't mean I'm not going to get you back for locking me in there for hours on end!" he added wickedly. Kaede gulped and changed the subject. "So what are you going to do now? About Shuichi I mean." She asked.

She didn't like the bleak look on his face. And she liked it even less when he said simply; "I'm going to let him go. I'm going to stop trying to apologise and stop trying to get him to come back to me. While I was stuck in there I realised something; how could anyone hang around when they're getting shit like I gave him? It's just not fair on him!" he said.

Kaede turned around until she was standing in front of him. "Don't be a moron Eiri! You love him, and now you know it! Now you have a chance to go and win him back! You have to tell him what he means to you!"

"It's too late now. I should've done it months ago!" Eiri shook his head in defeat.

"Then you really are an idiot." Kaede said sadly. "You really have no idea what's going on do you? Are you _trying _to make it hard on both of you?" she demanded.

"No, I'm making it easier on Shuichi." Eiri answered softly. He reached across Kaede and pressed the elevator button.

""Believe me Eiri; if you give up, you're going to kill him!" Kaede said heatedly, in a last effort to get him to change his mind.

"I doubt that. After all, he's got Ryuichi." Eiri said, and walked slowly into the open elevator.

With a defeated sigh, Kaede made her way back into the surveillance room. She looked around at the sombre faces of her friends.

"Who's going to tell Shuichi?" Tohma asked softly.

"I will." Hiro said; his voice equally as quietly.

"So will I. It was my plan, it's my fault. I should be there." Kaede added.

Tohma rested his hand on her shoulder. "No one blames you Kasey. No one expected Eiri to react that way." He told her comfortingly.

But Kaede couldn't stop the tears from running down her face.

* * *

It was raining out. Shuichi ran crying through the park. "_It can't be true! It just CAN'T!_" his mind screamed.

Hiro and Kaede had told him about what Eiri had said. At first, when they'd told him that Eiri had admitted that he loved him, Shuichi's heart had soared with hope. But that hope was dashed a moment later when Hiro had given him the shocking news that Eiri had decided to let him go.

He threw himself on a bench and cried his heart out. It felt like his heart was literally shattering into a thousand tiny, unrepairable pieces. Nothing would heal him now. Nothing but to feel Yuki's arms around him, and to hear him tell him that it would all be just fine…

But he knew now that it would never happen.

It hurt… it felt like daggers and glass shards were being pierced through every part of his body. He felt dizzy; the world was spinning in a haze of mismatched colours. His vision was clouding and everything was changing from the confused mass of colour to a welcoming black…

"Hiro! Saki! I found him! He's over here!" he thought he heard Akito's voice above him. Seconds later he felt a warm but wet hand resting against his forehead. "He has a fever, we'd better get him back to NG, Kaede will never forgive herself if something happens to him now… she's blaming herself for this y'know." Saki's soft voice murmured.

He felt a pair of arms lift him up as he slipped into unconsciousness. "Hiro, is that you?" he managed to mumble.

"Shhh, it's all right buddy, you're safe with us." Hiro said soothingly.

And he knew no more.

When they got Shuichi back to the NG building, they immediately decided to take him back to Ryuichi's place so that they could get him out of his wet clothes and into bed. He was running a high fever. The only thing higher than his fever was the tense emotions amongst the others.

They got him there in one piece and Hiro managed to get him into his pyjamas and into bed. While they waited for his fever to break, Kaede paced up and down in the living room of the house.

"This is all my fault!" she said tearfully. "I didn't mean for it to happen like this!" she sobbed.

"Because once again, you didn't think Kaede!" Kai snapped. "Did you really think you were helping them?" he demanded.

Kaede burst into tears and ran from the room, knowing deep down that Kai was right.

Saki, usually shy around Kai because of her crush on him, turned around and slapped him across the face. "Don't you dare try and pin this on Kasey! You know damn well that she was trying to help! I didn't see you complaining when we got the result we wanted."

Kai ignored his stinging cheek to retort. "Oh, really? Funny, because I don't remember _this_ being the result we wanted!" he replied coldly.

"Don't be stupid Kai! You know what I mean!" she yelled, tears threatening to spill from her own eyes. Saki was a person of gentle nature, and she hated arguing like this.

"_I'm_ being stupid? Well if that's the case then what's with the rest of you?" he asked.

That was the last straw; Saki left the room in the opposite direction to Kaede. Kai noticed the tears in her eyes with a guilty heart as she swept past him.

Akito rounded on him. "Oh nice one Kai! Look, just because you don't love her like she loves you doesn't mean you have to be so cruel to her all the time! And Kaede too! And I'm not just talking about tonight either, asshole!"

Haru grabbed Kai around the chest as he attempted to throw a punch at Akito, holding him back, while Sano ran to restrain Akito.

"This is stupid guys! Look what's become of us! We have to stop this now. Don't you see that it was Eiri's choice and not anyone's fault!" Haru shouted.

After a few minutes of silence, Sano called over his shoulder; "Suguru, Kaede's sitting on the front step on the veranda, go and see if she's okay." Suguru needed no further bidding. He left to go and search her out.

Slowly, Haru and Sano let go of their two friends. Akito and Kai were silent for a moment, then Kai said softly. "I never said I didn't love her."

Akito looked at him and, after a minute, smiled. "I know. I'm sorry." He replied.

"I do love her." Kai murmured. "Since I first saw her."

"I know." Akito said. They were silent for a minute before he said. "I think she's in the kitchen."

Kai couldn't help but ever so slightly return the smile. "Thanks." He answered, and followed Saki's path out of the room.

* * *

Sure enough, Suguru found Kaede outside on the porch, crying into her hands. He hesitantly sat beside her and put his arm around her shoulders. She looked up; startled at the sudden contact, but soon he had both arms around her in a hug and his lips against her hair as she cried into his shirt.

"Hey, hey, hey. Don't cry now. It's all right, no one thinks it's your fault." He murmured over and over, rocking her back and forth. His heart ached for her, wishing he could do more.

"Kai thinks so." She said through her tears.

"He doesn't really," Suguru told her gently, "emotions are running high in there; after you left; Saki slapped him across the face!"

"She didn't!" Kaede said, shocked despite herself.

"See what I mean. Actually, after that she went off crying too and Akito and Kai almost got into a fist fight."

"Wow, Kai must've really pissed Akii off if they got into a fist fight!" Kaede sniffed.

"Yeah, now Kai's on his way to tell Saki how he feels about her." Suguru answered. He hadn't quite got out of earshot when Kai had admitted that he loved the other girl.

_That_ got a weak smile out of her.

"So no one really blames you… Kasey." He murmured.

She looked up at him in surprise at his use of her nickname and he blushed. He slowly reached up and brushed away her tears with his fingers, then pushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear.

Slowly, so as not to scare her, he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. She responded just as gently.

When it became apparent to Suguru that she wasn't going to back away, he deepened the kiss, and Kaede matched his warmth with her own.

Suddenly, his mind caught up with him and he pulled away. "I'm sorry, I did it again." He said, horrified at his audacity. "I really am an idiot."

Kaede rested a finger against his lips and smiled. "Yeah, but you're _my_ idiot." She replied, and reaching up, she twined her fingers in his hair and kissed him… just to prove her point.

* * *

"Saki?"

"Go away Kai, I'm really not in the mood to talk to you right now." Saki snapped, averting her eyes so that she wouldn't go weak at the knees at the very sight of him.

She took a sharp intake of breath when he came close to her. "Saki, look at me." He commanded.

She didn't say anything, and continued to stare at the floor. He sighed and put his fingers under her chin, forcing her to look up at him.  
"I'm sorry about what I said, I guess I deserved that slap." He said softly.

Saki noticed the red mark her hand had left on his face. Pulling away from his grip she crossed to the freezer and pulled out a packet of frozen peas. She wrapped them in a nearby tea towel and held them gently to his face. She smiled at the surprised look that flitted briefly across his features. "I'll bet that stings a bit." She murmured softly, and he nodded slightly in agreement.

"You sure can pack a decent punch… or slap in this case." He replied, and he smiled at her, something she'd rarely seen in all the years she'd known him.

They were silent for a minute. "I'm sorry too, I never should've gone off like that." She said.

"No, I had no right to go off at Kaede like that… she really was trying to help for a change instead of being a nuisance for the sake it." He answered, startling a giggle out of Saki.

She felt so nervous, being alone with the guy she'd been in love with for over two years. No matter how long she'd known him for, she'd always feel this way around him as long as her feelings were unrequited. She suddenly found the floor very interesting again.

Kai tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. He really had no idea what to say; he hadn't ever expected this moment to arrive. Emotions weren't exactly his strong point.

"Y'know," he said, once again he made her look up at him. "That dress you wore on stage last night looked really good on you."

Her eyes widened in surprise at that, it was unusual for Kai to give compliments to anyone, least of all her. "Um, thanks." She replied nervously.

He looked away from her, swearing under his breath. "Dammit! I'm not making this any easier am I?" he muttered.

"Making what any easier?" Saki asked, unsure of what he meant.

Kai looked down into her eyes, and smiled softly at the sound of the question in her innocent, naïve voice.

"This." He answered, and he leant down and kissed her gently.

At first Saki was so surprised that she didn't respond. Kai was about to pull away when she finally responded with an amount of passion that surprised the blonde.

He pulled away and traced his fingers along her face before capturing her lips in another, rougher kiss.

From the kitchen door, Akito smiled, happy for his sister. He knocked on the door and cleared his throat to let them know he was there.

The couple jumped apart and turned to face him. Saki was blushing scarlet, and was thankful that her big brother didn't mention what he'd seen.

"Shuichi's awake." Was all he said.

Kai nodded. "How's Kaede?" he asked his friend.

"She'll be fine." Akito said with a wry grin. When Kaede had come back inside, he'd noticed that she was holding Suguru's hand.

"Well, we'd better go and see how Shu-chan is doing." Saki said softly, smiling up at Kai and lacing her fingers into his. He gave the faintest of smiles back.

As they left the kitchen, Akito winked at his little sister and she blushed.

* * *

It took Shuichi a few minutes to work out where he was. He felt disorientated and confused. When he realised that he was in his room at Ryuichi's he relaxed a little, until he remembered what had happened.

Tears stung his eyes as he remembered what Kaede and Hiro had told him about Yuki. His shoulders shook as the tears turned into racking sobs.

Kaede's heart wrenched at the sight of him. She released Suguru's hand to run to the bed and wrap the older boy in a hug.

"I'm sorry Shuichi! This is my fault." She whispered in his ear.

Shuichi brought his arms up weakly around her. "No Kaede. It's not; you were just trying to help." He whispered back.

Hearing it from Shuichi finally made her feel better. "Don't worry Shu-chan, I'm going to fix this!" she said determinedly.

"Nothing can be done to fix it now." Shuichi replied sadly.

"Now is that the Shuichi we all know and love?" Saki asked from the other side of the bed. "The Shuichi _I_ know would never give up like that!"

"We tried. We failed. Let's leave it at that." Shuichi said dully.

"That's what you think. I still have one more trick up my sleeve." Kaede informed him.

"Uh, Kasey…" Suguru began.

"C'mon everyone! Shu-chan needs to get his rest before the benefit concert next week." Ryuichi reprimanded everyone happily and began to usher everyone out of the room.

"So what exactly did you have in mind?" Akito asked Kaede as they left the room.

Kaede pulled Eiri's poem out of her pocket.

"Do think you could turn this into a song?" she asked him.

He read it through, eyebrows raised. "I suppose so. Why do you ask?"

Kaede's face darkened. "Because this is Shuichi's last hope." She said grimly.


	7. Eiri Smells a Rat Finally!

Okay, I have no idea where this chapter came from, but I decided that the group needed a lift after the rather depressing events of the previous chapter… this is also a good opportunity to take some advice given to me by a reviewer… time to make Kaede annoy somebody other than Kai!

This one might be shorter than the others, but it might bring back the humour (I hope!). Please enjoy this in-betweener. It's a little whacked out, so I hope you all like it! This the second to last chapter of this story, all that's left is the last chapter and the epilogue. The next chapter will be up soon, whether or not my friend Uyen has finished the music for the song I wrote especially for this story.

This is dedicated to my best friend Carly, who's been feeling a little down lately. Hope this cheers you up and gets a laugh out of you! Just for you the gang are going to get drunk on vodka! And when all else fails… remember the asteroid.

**Disclaimer: I still don't own it… but if I did, Hiro and Suguru would be mine, and so would Ryu!**

* * *

**Missing Amethyst Eyes**

**Chapter Seven**

"I'm so _bored_!" Kaede moaned dejectedly, about three days after the fiasco with the recording studio. Shuichi had come down with a cold, and with only three days until the concert, Sakano was beside himself.

"Well, find a way to entertain yourself." Hiro snapped. He was bored too, and that annoyed him almost as much as Kaede did.

"And if you even _think_ about making popping noises, I'll not only kill you, I'll confiscate your Shrek 2 DVD!" Haru added.

"You're so mean Haru!" she whined.

"Awww, you guys are so boring!" Kaede pouted.

Shuichi sneezed. "Then why don't you go and do something, I can stay here." The poor boy hadn't been feeling too crash hot after the events of the last few days. Between their plans backfiring and he felt rotten because of the cold he'd caught from being outside in the rain, he felt like he'd been hit by a freight train.

Kaede brightened. "I know! Let's go and sing karaoke! None of our songs though, Western music! Its fun, my cousins in England took me to a party once and they had a karaoke machine, and we sang all these really cool songs! C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" she pleaded.

Shuichi coughed. "Actually, that sounds like a good idea, why don't you go." He said.

"Well, we've got nothing else to do, and Bad Luck can't practice much until Shuichi's feeling better, why don't we go?" Akito suggested.

"YEAH! That'll be great!" Ryuichi said hyperactively.

"But we can't leave you behind Shu-chan!" Kaede frowned.

"It's not like I can sing anything with the state I'm in at the moment." He reminded her.

"Bullshit! There's plenty of stuff you can sing without killing your voice! You should come with us!" Kaede cajoled.

Shuichi thought hard about it for a while, then the first smile they'd seen for three days broke out on his face. "Yeah… yeah, I think I _will_ come with you!" he replied.

"YAY!" both Kaede and Ryu capered about happily.

"ENOUGH ALREADY!" Hiro bellowed, hauling the genki pair out the door, "let's go already; the sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave!" he muttered.

"Don't be like that Hiro!" Kaede reprimanded him cheerfully. She pulled him aside, "Actually, being bored isn't the only reason I suggested it, it'll do Shuichi good to get out of the house and have some fun… to take his mind off things.

"Humph." Hiro grunted, but at the same time he knew she was right. Perhaps something like this _was_ what his best friend needed.

* * *

Eiri had woken up that morning feeling extremely empty and alone, just like he had every morning since _his_ Shuichi had left.

"_I guess I can't really call him_ my_ Shuichi any more, considering I decided I'd let him go._" He thought, depressed. "_Nobody deserves what I put him through; I've actually done the right thing by him for a change._"

But that didn't stop it from hurting like hell.

"_I gotta get out of here for a while, I need some fresh air._" He thought to himself. He reached for his coat and put his house keys in his pocket. Slowly, he started to walk, not really thinking about where he was going, lost in memories of what now seemed like better days. (Although they seemed like disasters at the time) he smiled to himself as he remembered a time the pink haired star had almost burnt the kitchen down… again.

Absentmindedly, he walked without really registering where he was going. It wasn't until he found himself standing in front if Shuichi's favourite karaoke bar that he realised that he hadn't been concentrating on what he was doing. He was about to walk away when he heard an uncomfortably familiar hyperactive, _annoying_ female voice.

Wondering why Kaede was at a karaoke bar, he ventured inside… and immediately wished he'd stayed outside.

The entire gang was there, and it seemed that they'd only just arrived. Eiri tried to back out quietly and into the street, but his brother spotted him and dragged him inside, grinning wickedly,

Eiri glared at him. "You just _love_ to make my life a misery don't you." He snapped.

Tatsuha grinned. "Yep!" he said cheerfully. "Hey Kasey! Look who wandered in unexpectedly!" he called. "Guess what!"

"It just got worse?" Eiri asked dryly.

"Yep. And she's really hyper today, so be careful. Oh, and Shuichi's here as well. He's been sick for three days, but he wanted to come and we couldn't stop him."

"_Great… just great. Just what I needed; a hyperactive troublemaker and the brat._" Eiri thought wryly.

"Y-Y-Y-Yuki?" Shuichi's voice quivered with emotion.

"Hello Shuichi." Eiri answered in his usual cold manor, but inside his heart was aching for the pink haired boy.

"Hey there Eiri! How's it hangin'?" Kaede yelled at the top of her lungs, right in his ear.

"Owww dammit! I think you burst my eardrum you little idiot!" he covered his ears to fend of her maniacal laughter.

"Sorry!" she replied, not really meaning it.

With a gleeful squeal, she leapt up onto the stage and grabbed the microphone. "Okay! I'm dedicating this song to Ryuichi… the original Dancing Queen!"

That got a laugh out of everybody, even Shuichi, who'd gone quiet when Eiri had showed up.

_**You can dance, you can jive.**_

_**Having the time of your life.**_

_**Oohh, see that girl, watch that scene,**_

_**Diggin' the Dancing Queen!**_

_**Friday night and the lights are low,**_

_**Lookin' out for a place to go.**_

_**Mmmm, where they play the rock music,**_

_**Gettin' in the swing, you've come to look for a king,**_

Cheekily, the girl pointed at Tatsuha, and the boy blushed scarlet, making Eiri grin. Ryu was jumping up and down excitedly, not really paying attention to anything except the song, and was hugging everybody who got too close, even Eiri, who attempted to fend him off with little success. The genki singer then threw himself on Tatsuha with great gusto, and the dark haired boy's cheeks burned like fire as the older man's arms wrapped briefly around his neck. Abruptly, Ryu pulled back and turned a red that rivalled Tatsuha's, before his hyper grin returned and he capered off to annoy Kai and Saki.

**_Anybody could be that guy, _**

_**Night is long and the music's high.**_

_**Where they play the rock music, **_

_**Everything is fine; you're in the mood for a dance.**_

_**And when you get the chance…**_

**_You are the Dancing Queen,_**

_**Young and sweet only seventeen,**_

**_Dancing Queen, feel the beat from the tambourine,_**

_**Woah yeah…**_

_**You can dance, you can jive.**_

_**Having the time of your life!  
Oohh, see that girl watch that scene,**_

_**Diggin' the Dancing Queen!**_

Suguru had his eyes glued to Kaede up on the stage, she winked flirtatiously at him and he blushed and grinned back.

Neither Tohma nor Eiri missed this and they both grinned despite themselves. "Damn teenage hormones!" they said together.

They grinned at each other. "Ah to be young again." Eiri said dryly.

"Speak for yourself!" Tohma retorted good naturedly. "You're seven years younger than me!"

"Can't help bad luck." Eiri replied wryly. "But if it's teenage hormones that are the problem, then what's Sakuma's excuse?" he asked.

"Who knows? Does he even need an excuse?" Tohma answered with a smile.

"Well, whatever it is, it's driving Tatsuha up the wall." Eiri added with a wicked grin, watching his younger brother become increasingly uncomfortable and nervous around Ryuichi, the singer had returned to bug Tatsuha, and had dragged him over to the nearby dance floor.

Tatsuha, not going to miss an opportunity to be close to Ryuichi, even if he was 'dating' Shuichi, went along with the dancing, his blush intensifying as Ryu brought his body incredibly close his, the Nittle Grasper star's lips ghosted lightly across his and he gasped.

Ryu bounced back. "Sorry Tatsuha-kun! I got a little carried away!" he said cheerfully before bounding away to check on Shuichi, who was laughing at Kaede and trying desperately to ignore Eiri.

_**You're a tease it'll turn him on,**_

_**Leave him burning and then you're gone.**_

_**Looking out for another, anyone will do,**_

_**You're in the mood for a dance.**_

_**And when you get the chance…**_

_**You are the Dancing Queen,**_

_**Young and sweet only seventeen,**_

_**Dancing Queen, feel the beat from the tambourine,**_

_**Woah yeah…**_

_**You can dance, you can jive.**_

_**Having the time of your life!  
Oohh, see that girl watch that scene,**_

_**Diggin' the Dancing Queen!**_

Kaede finished the song with a flourish and a grin for her applauding friends. "Thanks Kaede!" Ryuichi yelled and she gave him a thumbs up.

She leapt lightly off the stage and ran over to Eiri. "What did you think?" she asked.

Eiri smirked at her, "Between you and the brat's crap singing, I'll never get any peace." He answered.

Kaede grinned wryly. "Good to have you back, Eiri nii-chan." She said. "But you don't have to be mean about our singing!" she wailed.

"I'm not being mean, I'm being truthful!" Eiri replied.

She poked her tongue out at him and called across the room. "It's one of the guys' turns to sing… Hey Hiro, why don't you?" she yelled to him.

"WHAT?" Hiro yelped. "You are really pushing your luck Kaede!"

"Hiro, please just do as she says, I'm the one who'll have to listen to her if you refuse." Suguru pleaded.

"Yeah, and so will we, please spare us the agony!" Sanosuke added with a pained look on his face.

With a groan, Hiro reluctantly took to the stage. "Any requests?" he asked, and immediately regretted that he had. Kaede leapt up to whisper something in his ear. He turned pale, "Any _other_ requests?" he asked pleadingly. When none came, he resigned to himself to the fact that he was indeed singing…

_**First I was afraid, I was petrified,**_

_**Kept thinkin' I could never live without you by my side.**_

_**But then I spent so many nights thinkin' how you did me wrong,**_

_**And I grew strong.**_

_**And I learnt how to get along.**_

_**And so you're back, from outer space.**_

_**I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face.**_

_**I should've changed that stupid lock; I should've made you leave your key,**_

_**If I'd have known for just one second you'd be back to bother me.**_

_**Go on now, go, walk out the door,**_

_**Just turn around now, you're not welcome anymore.**_

_**Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with your lies? **_

_**You think I'd crumble? You think I'd lay down and die?**_

_**Oh no not I! I will survive, whoa as long as I know how to love,**_

_**I know I'll stay alive.**_

_**I've got all my life to live; I've got all my love to give.**_

_**I will survive, I will survive,**_

_**Hey, hey.**_

The group roared with laughter and clapped Hiro's bravery in getting up there to actually sing it. Even Shuichi found it amusing.

Hiro got hurriedly off the stage when the song finished and went to the bar to order himself a vodka. He downed it on a single gulp and promptly ordered another.

"Okay! Who's next?" Kaede inquired. She needn't have asked because Tohma was already on stage with a grin on his face as the intro to the song he'd chosen began to play cheerily through the room.

Ryuichi laughed. "YEAH! GO TOHMA!" he yelled.

Eiri looked at him quizzically. "He only sings this song when he's smashed." Ryuichi explained.

Eiri grinned despite himself; he recognised the song. "This'll be interesting." He murmured delightedly. He'd never seen Seguchi really off his face before, and hadn't really noticed any difference in his brother-in-law that could've shown that he was drunk.

He never thought he'd live to see the day he'd hear Tohma Seguchi sing this song…

_**Lollipop-a-lollipop, oh lolly, lolly, lolly.**_

_**Lollipop-a-lollipop, oh lolly, lolly, lolly.**_

**_Lollipop-a-lollipop, oh lolly, lolly, lolly lollipop._**

_**Call my baby lollipop, tell you why.**_

_**His kiss is sweeter than an apple pie.**_

_**And when he does his shaky rockin' dance,**_

_**Man, I haven't got a chance.**_

_**I call him…**_

_**Lollipop-a-lollipop, oh lolly, lolly, lolly.**_

_**Lollipop-a-lollipop, oh lolly, lolly, lolly.**_

**_Lollipop-a-lollipop, oh lolly, lolly, lolly lollipop._**

_**Sweeter than candy on a stick,**_

_**Huckleberry, cherry and lime.**_

_**If you had a choice he'd be your pick**_

_**But lollipop is mine!**_

"Oh dear God! It's the end of the world as we know it!" Suguru muttered under his breath, slapping his hand to his forehead.

"Yeah, but at least it's funny!" Shuichi replied, breathless from laughter. "Looking on the bright side, check out the look on Mika's face!"

Sure enough, Mika was glaring daggers at her husband, while trying to ignore him at the same time… needless to say it wasn't happening as well as she'd hoped. She took another sip of her vodka cruiser and shook her head in despair at his antics.

"I must admit, this is rather amusing." Suguru conceded.

_**Crazy way he thrills me, tell you why.**_

_**Just like a lightning from the sky.**_

_**He loves to kiss me 'til I can't see straight.**_

_**Gee my lollipop is great.**_

_**I call him…**_

_**Lollipop-a-lollipop, oh lolly, lolly, lolly.**_

_**Lollipop-a-lollipop, oh lolly, lolly, lolly.**_

_**Lollipop-a-lollipop, oh lolly, lolly, lolly lollipop.**_

_**Lollipop-a-lollipop, oh lolly, lolly, lolly.**_

_**Lollipop-a-lollipop, oh lolly, lolly, lolly.**_

_**Lollipop-a-lollipop, oh lolly, lolly, lolly lollipop.**_

He finished and jumped lightly off the stage. Eiri and Ryuichi were doubled over in laughter as he walked back over to them, slightly unsteady on his feet.

Reaching into one of his seemingly bottomless pockets, Ryuichi pulled out a worn Polaroid and showed it to Eiri.

"This was taken at the last Nittle Grasper get together." He said, breathless from laughter. Eiri nearly choked when he saw the photo. It was a picture of Tohma in a very bright lollipop costume, standing next to Ryuichi, who was dressed in similar attire.

"Just how drunk were you?" Eiri demanded.

"Too drunk to remember that it was _us_ that spiked the punch!" Ryuichi replied cheerfully. Eiri groaned, glad that that was the one party invitation from Tohma that he'd turned down.

"Me next! Me next!" Ryu cried excitedly. He gambolled happily about until Tohma shoved him in the direction of the stage. "Get on with it then!" he said good naturedly.

Ryu was about to start when Suguru and Sakano, beset by the one, two or three too many vodkas they'd consumed within the last five to ten minutes, simultaneously began to shriek about two different things at once.

"AAAAAHHHH! It's an astroid! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!" Suguru screamed, pointing at the disco ball before falling unconscious to the floor.

"THE LOLLIPOPS ARE AFTER ME! THE LOLLIPOPS ARE AFTER ME! NOOOOOO!" Sakano screeched, apparently seeing flesh eating lollipops as a part of his hallucinations, before he too passed out on the floor.

As Hiro helped Kaede shift Suguru off the dance floor, he said wryly; "I thought he didn't drink."

"There's a first time for everything. Even Sano's had a couple tonight, although nowhere near as much as the rest of us." Kaede was slurring her words a little.

Up on the stage, Ryuichi was waving Kumagoro around dangerously. "Kumagoro says that we have to sing a happy song to make Shu-chan feel better!" he yelled. Shuichi turned about three shades of red and put his head in his hands due to embarrassment.

_**When the daylight's gone, **_

_**And you're on your own,**_

_**And you need a friend, just to be around.**_

_**I will comfort you; I'll take your hand.**_

_**And I'll pull you through, I will understand.**_

_**And you know that I'll be at your side.**_

_**There's no need to worry.**_

_**Together we'll survive,**_

**_Through the haste and hurry._**

_**I'll be at your side, if you feel like you're alone,**_

_**And you've nowhere to turn,**_

_**I'll be at your side.**_

"Cute." Tohma said with a grin.

"Shuddup." Eiri growled.

"But why? My, my, my; could it be that you haven't been coping without Mr. Shindou as well as I had thought?" Tohma teased him.

"Shuddup." Came the icy reply.

"Ryu really likes him, you know." Tohma continued recklessly, unaware of how close he was coming to a severe beating.

"Dammit Tohma! Do you think this is easy for me? Do you really think I wanted to give up on our relationship?" Eiri demanded.

"Then why did you?" Tohma asked before moving off to join Mika at the bar.

When Ryu finished the song there was a round of applause and a loud call for Shuichi to get up on the karaoke stage and sing something.

He willingly obliged and made his way up to the microphone, acutely aware that Eiri was watching his every move.

"Hey Shuichi! Can I make a suggestion?" Hiro asked. Shuichi nodded and his best friend whispered something in his ear. Shuichi grinned widely, feeling much better than he had that morning and drunk enough to agree to almost anything.

_**I wonder if one day that you'll say that you care,**_

_**If you say you love me madly I'll gladly be there,**_

_**Like a puppet on a string!**_

_**Love is just like a merry-go-round, with all the fun of a fair,**_

_**One day I'm feeling down on the ground, then I'm up in the air.**_

_**Are you leading me on?**_

_**Tomorrow will you be gone?**_

_**I wonder if one day that you'll say that you care,**_

_**If you say you love me madly I'll gladly be there,**_

_**Like a puppet on a string!**_

_**I may win on the round about, then I'll lose on the sweeps.**_

_**In or out there is never a doubt, just who's pulling the strings.**_

_**I'm all tied up in you,**_

_**But where's it leading me to?**_

_**I wonder if one day that you'll say that you care,**_

_**If you say you love me madly I'll gladly be there,**_

_**Like a puppet on a string!**_

_**I wonder if one day that you'll say that you care,**_

_**If you say you love me madly I'll gladly be there,**_

_**Like a puppet on a string!**_

_**Like a puppet on a string.**_

"Now that's what I call ironic." Eiri muttered to himself. Suddenly, alarm bells went off inside his head. Something was very wrong with all this.

"I smell a rat." He said aloud.

"Well _finally_!" Kaede said from behind him.

"Whaddaya mean 'finally'?" Eiri demanded immediately.

"That's for me to know and you to find out." She informed him cheekily.

"Kaede!" Eiri said warningly.

"Look, its best you hear it from Shuichi, not me or anybody else." Kaede said before running off to sing a song with Saki.

"_What the hell is going on here?" _Eiri thought to himself. "_I'm so fucking confused; the left side of me doesn't know what the right side's doing!" _

Out loud he said; "Fuck this… I'm going home."

And that's exactly what he did.

Shuichi watched him go sadly. Tohma and Mika walked up behind him. "Maybe it's time we came clean with him; told him the truth." Tohma said quietly.

"Yes. We'll except full responsibility if you decide to tell him the truth." Mika added.

"It's a little too late for that don't you think?" Shuichi sniffed.

"No, we still have one more opportunity to fix this." Kaede said. "I've got something for the two of you that might go a long way towards fixing this fuck up."

"Oh? What is it?" Shuichi asked.

Kaede put her fingers to her lips. "Shhhh… it's a secret." She whispered with a wink at her pink haired friend.

"You'll find out in three days." She told him.


	8. Reconcilliation

Thanks for the reviews everyone! I'm trying to make 100 by the time I finish this story, which isn't far away. This is either going to be the last or second to last chapter before the epilogue. I'm not sure if I should do a happy chapter for Eiri and Shuichi after this one, just for the two of them to catch up and… other stuff! Hehehehe. I need your reviews to tell me what you think.

My friend and I gave up on writing music for the original lyrics. It was going to take way too long. And we don't actually know how we're going to record it onto a MIDI file so I could send it to those who wanted it.

I know I've said this before, but don't look at the songs I've chosen by who sings them and whether or not they suit the bands, I'm trying to base my choices on either Tatsuha/Ryuichi or Eiri/Shuichi. For example, the song I've chosen for Shuichi is normally sung by a girl, but it works well so I went with it. There are a lot of songs in this chapter… probably because it's a concert scene for all three bands, so please don't get upset at the amount of songs.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Gravitation or any related characters. I do own Ancient Curse.

* * *

**Missing Amethyst Eyes**

**Chapter 8**

Shuichi woke up on the morning of the concert feeling better than he had for a while. Today he would be doing what he was born to do, sing.

"Up already Shu-chan?" Ryu called from behind the closed door.

"Yeah." Shuichi replied cheerfully, opening the door to admit his friend.

Ryu sat cross-legged on the bed, and Shuichi joined him. "Today's the day. Kaede told me that today's d-day on Eiri."

"What do you mean?" Shuichi asked him.

Ryu winked at him. "Not telling. Not yet, Kaede's got it all under control this time."

"Hopefully." Shuichi muttered. "What about Tatsuha?" he asked

"What about him?" Ryu asked, his head tilted to the side, and blushing furiously as he remembered the karaoke bar, and how he'd got a little too carried away with the younger boy at one stage. His blushed darkened as he remembered the light, brief kiss they had shared.

"_He can't really be that naïve can he?_" Shuichi thought. "_He must know there's something between them… something more than what there is."_

"Nothing, its okay." He answered.

The two heard the front doorbell ring and both of them got up to answer it. Hiro and Suguru where on the doorstep. "Hey, ready to go? We've gotta get to the hospital for our sound check before Kaede takes over." Hiro said.

Suguru hit him upside of the head. "Be nice." He reprimanded jokingly.

"What? It's true." Hiro protested.

"I know it is." Suguru replied with a laugh.

"We're ready to go Hiro." Shuichi said. His best friend tossed him a bike helmet and they made their way in the direction of the hospital, Ryu and Suguru following in Ryu's chauffer driven car.

Tohma and Noriko were already there. Saki, Haru, Kai and Sano were all there too, but Kaede and Akito were still missing in action. "Where are they?" Shuichi asked Saki.

She grinned. "Finalising one of our new songs." She answered.

At that moment, Shuichi was dragged on stage for Bad Luck's sound check, so he didn't get the chance to ask Saki any more questions.

"Ahhhhhh! Ahhhhhh! Ahhhhhh!" Shuichi sang, improvising as Hiro tuned up his guitar and Suguru ran a few scales on the keyboard. And so it continued for quite a while before Noriko literally drop-kicked Shuichi off the stage, then promptly drop-kicked Ryu _on_ to the stage.

Nittle Grasper began to run through the same exercises as Bad Luck had, Tohma and Noriko running scales while Ryuichi improvised a tune as he went. By the time they'd finished, Kaede and Akito still hadn't shown up.

"Where are they? They should've finished by now!" Kai grumbled.

Saki rested a hand on his arm. "They won't be long." She murmured. He looked down at her and smiled slightly, so only she could tell it was there. He leant down and kissed her softly, making everybody watching smile.

"WE'RE HEEERRREEE!" a loud voice yelled. Suguru winced as a black haired blur threw itself on him. "You're a log." He wheezed as he wrapped his arms around her waist, taking a step back to prevent himself from falling on his rear.

"Oh shut your face." She said with a lopsided grin that made his heart turn somersaults.

"Is the song ready?" Sano asked.

"Of course." Akito replied with a wide grin. He handed out the sheet music to the rest of his band mates.

They went up to the stage to rehearse their songs, but the others gave them some peace before they rehearsed their new piece. They wanted it to be kept secret until the encore.

An hour later, the crowd began to flow towards the stage. Kaede was wearing black street gear; black knee high boots, black leather mini skirt and black, low cut silk feel top with matching black leather studded bracelet and choker. The others were all dressed in similar street wear. Saki was dressed almost exactly the same as Kaede, except her skirt was longer. The boys were all dressed in various colours of street wear, although mostly they preferred the straight black.

Ryu had decided to go for his usual, gorgeous look; in other words, he was wearing a white dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up and the buttons undone to reveal his well toned torso. Basically, Tatsuha was incredibly close to drooling.

Tohma was wearing his customary suit and hat, a look that only he could pull off. Noriko was wearing a tight, short purple dress.

Shuichi was wearing a see thorough midriff black net top and yellow waist length jacket and black leather pants with a chain around the belt.

Hiro was wearing the usual blue shirt with half the buttons undone and a pair of faded jeans, while Suguru, ever in the wake of his famous cousin, was clad in a black suit and red shirt.

By the time Eiri showed up, you could not move outside the hospital doors. He was only there because Kaede had called him last night and begged him. So here he was, hiding up the back with his brother and sister, trying hard not to drool over his ex-lover.

First up was Nittle Grasper, to perform a new song that was going to be released the following week. The crowd went wild as Ryuichi, Tohma and Noriko stepped on to the stage.

"Hey everyone! It's Ryu! Thanks for coming out! Welcome to our benefit concert for the local hospital. All proceeds from your tickets have gone to the local hospital, but any further donations would be appreciated. In addition, each performing band has decided to donate one thousand dollars." There was a ruckus as the crowd cheered.

"So, without any further ado, we are Nittle Grasper!" Ryu yelled as the music began to play.

_**When you're looking like that… yeah, yeah.**_

_**She's a five foot ten in cat suit and bambi eyes.**_

_**Everybody who's staring wouldn't believe that that girl was mine.**_

_**I should've known I was wrong, when I left her for a life in pity but,**_

_**Say you never miss the water 'til it's gone, yeah.**_

_**Guess I failed to love you. **_

_**And you're taking it out tonight.**_

_**Am I supposed to leave you now, when you're looking like that?**_

_**I can't believe what I just gave away now I can't take it back.**_

_**I don't wanna get along,**_

**_I don't wanna live my life without you._**

_**Am I supposed to leave you now, when you're looking like that?**_

Eiri couldn't help but feel sorry for his brother. Tatsuha had been almost as depressed as he had been since Ryuichi and Shuichi has started dating. It seemed that everyone but Ryuichi himself knew how much Tatsuha loved the Nittle Grasper star.

He couldn't help but wonder if this particular song was aimed slightly at Tatsuha, who seemed to be going out of his way to attract the singer's attention. He was wearing tight shirt that didn't leave much to the imagination, and a pair of leather pants that almost put Shuichi to shame. "_almost."_ Eiri said with a small smile as he allowed his eyes to rake Shuichi's body from where he stood watching from the sidelines.

Anyway, whatever Tatsuha was doing for Ryuichi, it seemed to be working because he could see the older man's eyes darting to his brother's form.

_**She's all dressed up, glamour and rock 'n' roll.**_

_**Wanna squeeze her real tight, get out of this place,**_

_**If only I could take control.**_

_**But she's outta my reach forever,**_

_**Just a week ago she lied next to me.**_

**_So ironic how I had to lose just to see, yeah._**

_**Guess I failed to love you. **_

_**And you're taking it out tonight.**_

_**Am I supposed to leave you now, when you're looking like that?**_

_**I can't believe what I just gave away now I can't take it back.**_

_**I don't wanna get along,**_

_**I don't wanna live my life without you.**_

_**Am I supposed to leave you now, when you're looking like that?**_

Up on the stage, Ryuichi was having trouble keeping his eyes away from Tatsuha. The teenager looked so appealing, standing up the back with his brother and sister. His eyes flickered to Shuichi, who grinned at him and raised his eyebrows in Tatsuha's direction. Ryu blushed, thinking back to the kiss at the karaoke bar.

_**I don't wanna forget you; I don't even wanna try it.**_

_**How am I supposed to walk on by?**_

_**When you're looking like that.**_

_**How am I supposed to leave you?**_

**_I can't believe what I just gave away, oh no, no._**

'_**Cause I can't take it back, I'm lost.**_

_**I don't wanna live life without you (Live my life without you)**_

_**Am I supposed to leave you now, when you're looking like that?**_

The crowd went mental. Ryu gave them the most adorable grin he could muster, one that sent girls swooning left, right and centre, before bowing and leaping lightly off the stage.

Up next, Shuichi, Hiro and Suguru walked on to the stage amid screaming fangirls and thunderous applause.

"Hey everybody, we are Bad Luck!" Shuichi yelled; his energy on full scale. "Thanks for coming out today to support our cause!" there was more screaming and cheering.

Eiri swallowed visibly as his eyes followed Shuichi's every move. Right now, being without him was the hardest thing in the world, particularly when he was so close. He would never admit it out loud, but he really missed the damn brat.

He felt Mika rest her hand comfortingly on his shoulder, and he smiled slightly at her. His sister looked fantastic, the glow of pregnancy really looked good on her, and he hoped to God that Tohma would be a good father to their child. Though Eiri would never say it, Eiri was looking forward to being an uncle.

He turned his eyes back towards Shuichi as the music began to play. He seemed to be inexorably drawn to every movement the boy made; from the sway of his hips to the way his delicate fingers lightly gripped the microphone.

_**It's the last night on Earth, before the great divide.**_

_**My hands are shaking; time was never on our side.**_

_**And there's no such thing as a beautiful goodbye,**_

_**As an ordinary day, I prayed for you a thousand times.**_

_**It's never enough, **_

_**No matter how many times I try to tell you this is love.**_

_**If tomorrow never comes, I want you to know right now that I,**_

_**I'm gonna love you until the day I die.**_

_**And if tomorrow falls asleep, can you hold me first?**_

_**I'm gonna love you like it's the last night on Earth**_

_**Like it's the last night on Earth.**_

Eiri had the funniest feeling that Shuichi was talking about him. But something was telling him that something was incredibly wrong with this picture, something to do with the fact that Shuichi was dating Ryuichi, but the lyrics seemed to fit him to a tee. It confused him, but he knew something was wrong.

"He's got you down to a fine art." Mika murmured wickedly.

"Shut up." Eiri growled.

"But I'm having so much fun torturing you. I find it highly amusing seeing you do the work for a change. Working to get him back that is."

_**A penny for your thoughts, a picture so it lasts.**_

**_Let's knock down the walls of immortality._**

_**Your fingers on my skin, only you can hear my fears**_

_**Only you can help me heal, I see forever with you here.**_

_**It's never enough,**_

_**No matter how many miles stand between us, this is love.**_

_**If tomorrow never comes, I want you to know right now that I,**_

_**I'm gonna love you until the day I die.**_

_**And if tomorrow falls asleep, can you hold me first?**_

_**I'm gonna love you like it's the last night on Earth.**_

"Shut up!" Eiri said again. "I don't know why this whole thing upsets me so much. I always used to think that I didn't need him."

"Hmmm, let's see…" Mika replied with a grin, "Could it be because you love him." she had of course, heard about the fiasco with the recording studio, and knew this to be true. "Or, you're just a sex starved maniac. But I'm more inclined to take the first option."

"Oh, I don't know." Eiri said with a smile that was close to the sadistic smirk he normally wore. "Sex starved isn't that far off."

Mika gave a mock shudder, then added with an evil grin. "When was the last time you got lucky? No, wait, I don't want to know."

Eiri laughed lightly as he turned his attention back to the stage, and his Shuichi.

_**It's never enough…**_

_**No, it's never enough…**_

_**It's never enough… oohh.**_

_**The afterglow, the horizon line.**_

_**The shadows fall.**_

_**Will you still be mine? Will you still be mine?**_

_**Will you still me mine, I ask?**_

_**If tomorrow never comes, I want you to know right now that I,**_

_**I'm gonna love you until the day I die.**_

_**And if tomorrow falls asleep, can you hold me first?**_

_**I'm gonna love you like it's the last night on Earth.**_

_**Like it's the last night on Earth…**_

Shuichi bowed, waved and was towed off the stage by Hiro and Suguru in a state that was much different to the song he had performed just moments before, amid gales of laughter from the audience.

Then it was Kaede's turn to enter centre stage. She smiled and waved at the audience, who cheered and wolf-whistled at the band.

"Like the other two bands we have the pleasure of performing with today, Ancient Curse would like to thank everybody out there for coming. In addition we would like to point out that the hospital is in desperate need of blood donors, and every member of each band has donated today." there was a round of applause, Kaede waited until they were silent before continuing.

"Everyone that is, except Sano here." She said, gesturing behind her in roughly Sano's direction. "You see, if Sano donated, he'd need to get his blood put straight back in again. Sano is anemic, and it's because of him we found out about the hospital's desperate need of funding. So please donate!" she beseeched the crowd, who were cheering.

"Well, without further ado, because I'm going to get my butt kicked if I don't shut up." Akito and Kai both nodded emphatically. "We are Ancient Curse!"

The music to another song began to play, in complete contrast to the pieces performed by Nittle Grasper and Bad Luck.

_**I haven't slept at all in days**_

_**It's been so long since we have talked.**_

_**And I have been here many times**_

_**I just don't know what I'm doing wrong.**_

_**What can I do to make you love me?**_

_**What can I do to make you care?**_

_**What can I say to make you feel this?**_

**_What can I do to get you there?_**

_**There's only so much I can take**_

_**And I just gotta let it go.**_

_**And who knows, I might feel better, yeah.**_

_**If I don't try and I don't hope.**_

_**What can I do to make you love me?**_

_**What can I do to make you care?**_

_**What can I say to make you feel this?**_

**_What can I do to get you there?_**

_**No more waiting, no more aching**_

_**No more fighting, no more trying…**_

_**Maybe there's nothing more to say**_

_**And in a funny way I'm calm.**_

_**Because the power is not mine.**_

_**I'm just gonna let it fly.**_

_**What can I do to make you love me? (What can I do to make you love me?)**_

_**What can I do to make you care? (What can I do to make you care?)**_

_**What can I say to make you feel this? (What can I do to make you love me?)**_

_**What can I do to get you there? (What can I do to make you care?)**_

_**Just tell me what to do.**_

_**What can I do to make you love me? (What can I do to make you love me?)**_

_**What can I do to make you care? (What can I do to make you care?)**_

_**What can I change to make you feel this? (What can I do to make you love me?)**_

_**What can I do to get you there? (What can I do to make you care?)**_

The crowd roared their approval as Kaede finished singing and the group bowed and began to walk off stage.

The crowd began to chant. "Duet! Duet! Duet! Duet!" over and over again.

Kaede looked at Shuichi and asked him. "Do you want to do one Shu-chan?"

He smiled, slightly at first, but his smile soon turned into a grin. "You bet! Duets are heaps fun!" he said excitedly. "But what are we going to sing?"

"S'all right Shuichi. I came prepared for such an occurrence, why do you think we practiced all those extra songs during rehearsal?" Akito asked him with a conspirational wink.

"Oh, so which one are we going to sing?" Shuichi replied, scratching his head.

"Do I get to do a duet too?" Ryu asked, looking forlorn at the thought of being left out.

"Of course you do Ryu-chan… with both of them." Akito reassured him.

"YAY!" Ryu squealed, hugging everybody he could within the ten seconds before Kaede and Shuichi took the stage.

"All right everyone! You asked for duets so here's the first one!" Shuichi yelled hyperactively, trying to ignore the fact that Eiri was watching him like a hawk. The crowd screamed and chanted their names.

**Shuichi:_ here I am again, talking to myself_**

_**Sitting at a red light.**_

**Kaede:_ both hands on the wheel, how'm I s'posed to feel?_**

**_So much running through my mind._**

**Shuichi:_ first you wanna be free, now you say you need me_**

_**Giving mixed signals and signs.**_

**Kaede:_ it's so hard to let you in,_**

_**Thinking you might slam the breaks again.**_

_**Put the pedal down, heading outta town**_

_**Gotta make a getaway.**_

_**The traffic in my brain's driving me insane**_

_**This is more than I can take.**_

**Shuichi: _you tell me that you love me first_**

**Kaede: _then throw your heart in to reverse._**

_**I gotta get away.**_

Eiri once again had the strangest feeling that they were taking a dig at him. it was actually starting to make him feel a little guilty about his decision to let Shuichi go… maybe he'd read it wrong. Or _maybe_ there was just something wrong with the entire situation in the first place. From the smug looks his sister kept giving him he suspected the latter, but the former was working pretty well for him too.

**Shuichi: _I can't keep coming back to you_**

_**every time you're in the mood**_

_**To whisper something sweet in my ear.**_

**Kaede: _it's so hard to move on_**

_**Cause every time I think you're gone**_

_**You show up in my rear view mirror.**_

**Shuichi: _is this just a detour? 'cause I gotta be sure_**

_**That you really mean what you say.**_

**Kaede: _it's so hard to let you in_**

_**Thinking you might slam the breaks again.**_

_**Put the pedal down, heading outta town**_

_**Gotta make a getaway.**_

_**The traffic in my brain's driving me insane**_

_**This is more than I can take.**_

**Kaede: _you tell me that you love me first_**

**Shuichi: _then throw your heart in to reverse._**

_**I gotta get away.**_

**Kaede: _to a place where I can be redefined._**

_**Where you're out of sight**_

**Shuichi: _and you're out of mind_**

_**But the truth is I can't even say goodbye…**_

**Kaede: _here I am again, talking to myself_**

_**Sitting at a red light**_

**Shuichi: _both hands on the wheel, how'm I s'posed to feel_**

_**So much running through my mind.**_

_**Put the pedal down, heading outta town**_

_**Gotta make a getaway.**_

_**The traffic in my brain's driving me insane**_

_**This is more than I can take.**_

**Shuichi: _you tell me that you love me first_**

**Kaede: _then throw your heart in to reverse._**

_**I gotta get away.**_

There was a huge roar appreciation for the stellar sound the two made together, even their own band mates were impressed.

Eiri reluctantly joined in the clapping along with his sister and brother and the rest of the audience. Tatsuha was cheering for his childhood friend and was running the risk of losing his voice if he kept it up for much longer.

"I wonder if Kasey will do a duet with my Ryuichi?" Tatsuha said to his brother. Eiri barely suppressed the grin he could feel tugging at the corners of his mouth as he noted Tatsuha call Ryuichi _his_. In the end he supposed it wasn't any different to the way he still thought of Shuichi as his.

Tatsuha soon got the answer to his question. Kaede crooked her finger at Ryuichi and he capered onto the stage, throwing his arms around her waist and almost knocking her flat. The sight made the crowd laugh, even Tatsuha had a chuckle over it.

"This will be interesting. I wonder if it'll be a remake of Mika and Tohma's wedding." He said, remembering the time the two had hijacked the microphones at the wedding to sing duets.

"Well, you're about to get your answer." Eiri said with a slight grin.

Mika shuddered. "I don't think we need a repeat of our wedding thankyou very much." She added wryly. "That was a truly frightening experience." Her brothers laughed.

"Up now, I'm going to sing a duet with Ryu-chan! Obviously!" Kaede said and the audience laughed as Ryu jumped up and down hyperactively before the music started up again.

**Ryuichi: _did I hear you right? 'Cause I thought you said_**

_**Let's think it over. **_

_**You have been my world,**_

_**And I never planned growing old without you.**_

_**Shadows bleeding through the light**_

_**Where the love once shined so bright.**_

_**Came without a reason.**_

_**Don't let go of us tonight, love's not always black and white.**_

_**Haven't I always loved you?**_

**Kaede: _but when I need you, you're almost here_**

_**And I know that's not enough.**_

_**And when I'm with you, I'm close to tears **_

_**'cause you're only almost here.**_

**Ryuichi_: I would change the world, if I had a chance._**

**_Oh won't you let me?  
Treat me like a child, throw your arms around me,_**

_**Oh please protect me.**_

**Both:_ bruised and battered by your words,_**

_**Dazed and shattered how it hurts**_

**Ryuichi: _haven't I always loved you?_**

Eiri was starting to feel guilty now… whatever it was they were up to, it was making him feel like the bad guy. Oh wait, news flash… he _was_ the bad guy. He almost got the feeling that Shuichi was calling to him through the songs. Little did he know that that was the _exact_ reason the three bands had chosen the songs that they did. They were fucking with his mind… big time. And loving every moment of it. Especially Kaede, who was an expert at screwing around with people and watching them drop like flies.

Eiri really had no idea what was going on, and when they came clean with him, he wasn't going to know what hit him.

**Kaede: _but when I need you, you're almost here_**

_**And I know that's not enough.**_

_**And when I'm with you, I'm close to tears **_

_**'cause you're only almost here.**_

**Both:_ bruised and battered by your words,_**

_**Dazed and shattered how it hurts**_

**Ryuichi: _haven't I always loved you?_**

**Kaede: _but when I need you, you're almost here…_**

**Ryuichi: _Well I never knew how far behind I'd left you…_**

**Kaede: _And when I hold you, you're almost here…_**

**Ryuichi: _Well I'm sorry that I took out love for granted…_**

**Both: _And now I'm with you, I'm close to tears…_**

**Ryuichi: _'Cause I know I'm almost here…_**

**Both: _Only almost here._**

There were fangirls screaming from every direction. Ryu was still their favourite no matter how much they loved Shuichi, Hiro, Suguru, Tohma or even Akito and the others… no one was better that Ryuichi Sakuma.

That left one duet to go… the one between Shuichi and Ryuichi. Every fangirl in the audience was hanging out for this one… and some of the boys too (For reasons no one really wanted to explore).

Eiri held his breath without even realising it, this was a pivotal moment for him. This would be the moment that truly decided wether or not Eiri had the strength to move on without his Shuichi by his side.

_**Yeah…**_

**Shuichi: _You are my fire_**

**_The one desire_**

**_Believe when I say_**

**_I want it that way_**

**Ryuichi: _But we are two worlds apart_**

**_Can't reach to your heart_**

**_When you say_**

**_That I want it that way_**

**Both:** **_Tell me why_**

**_Ain't nothin' but a heartache_**

**_Tell me why_**

**_Ain't nothin' but a mistake_**

**_Tell me why_**

**_I never wanna hear you say_**

**_I want it that way_**

If the fangirls weren't going psycho before, they were now. It was so far out of Shuichi and Ryuichi's usual songs, but they sounded so amazing together that there were women swooning no matter where you looked. Ryuichi and Shuichi made a dynamic duo, even Eiri had to agree that they sounded good.

"Wow," Mika said, impressed. "The two dumbasses actually sound good." She added, echoing Eiri's own thoughts.

"I don't know why they don't sing together more often." Tatsuha agreed, "Shuichi really is good bro."

"Yeah… I know." Eiri sighed heavily, an immense sense of foreboding weighing on his mind. There didn't seem to be any point in denying Shuichi's talent now.

**Shuichi:_Am I your fire?_**

**_Your one desire?_**

**_Yes I know it's too late_**

**_But I want it that way_**

**Both:** **_Tell me why_**

**_Ain't nothin' but a heartache_**

**_Tell me why_**

**_Ain't nothin' but a mistake_**

**_Tell me why_**

**_I never wanna hear you say_**

**_I want it that way_**

**Shuichi:_Now I can see that we're falling apart_**

**_From the way that it used to be, yeah_**

**_No matter the distance_**

**_I want you to know_**

**_That deep down inside of me..._**

Eiri was almost positive that they were talking about him now. The guilt was getting bigger, and he had to keep reminding himself that it was Shuichi who had left him behind, so there was no way there was anything wrong with this picture… right? He was singing about Ryuichi right?

Wrong.

And Eiri knew it, somewhere deep down in the recesses of his shattered heart, he knew that there was something wrong. His naturally suspicious mind was telling him to find out what was going on, but the rest of him was telling him to let it go and move on. As usual, Eiri decided to agree with his mind.

**Ryuichi: _You are my fire_**

**_The one desire_**

**_You are_**

**_You are, you are, you are_**

**_Don't wanna hear you say_**

**Both:_Ain't nothin' but a heartache_**

**_Ain't nothin' but a mistake_**

**_(Don't wanna hear you say)_**

**_I never wanna hear you say_**

**_I want it that way_**

_**Tell me why**_

_**Ain't nothin' but a heartache**_

_**Tell me why**_

_**Ain't nothin but a mistake**_

_**Tell me why**_

_**I never wanna hear you say**_

_**(Don't wanna hear you say it)**_

_**I want it that way**_

**Shuichi: _I want it that way…_**

The audience screamed with delight as they bowed and walked off the stage arm in arm, which whereupon decided in Eiri in confronting Shuichi one more time before he let him go.

Backstage, Kaede threw her arms around both of them in a hug. "Nicely done you two, listen to the crowd, and there's a que up at the blood bank."

"It wouldn't matter what we did, they'd follow just because we did it." Noriko said with a grin. "And we're famous so that makes it okay."

"Listen, they're still going." Suguru said in awe.

Kaede shot a look at Akito, who nodded and signalled the other members of Ancient Curse. They immediately all began to walk back on to the stage.

"Where do you guys think you're going?" Hiro asked them.

"Encores weren't planned." Tohma agreed, not looking particularly happy with Kaede, but still had a smile plastered to his face.

Kaede winked at him. "We did, and to answer your question Hiro, this one's for Shuichi, no Eiri." She said to Hiro.

"Uh-oh, Kaede, don't do anything you'll regret." Suguru warned his girlfriend.

"Believe me, I'm not going to regret this, no one will… except I might when Eiri tries to kill me for stealing these off his computer." With that, she bounded on to the stage in the wake of her band mates.

There was a round of applause as they took their places. Kaede stepped up to the microphone with a sad smile across the crowd to Eiri and Tatsuha. "A friend of mine wrote this for his partner, and since it's kind of my fault that they're not together any more, we decided to perform it today. I hope he doesn't kill me for stealing his lyrics."

Kaede close her eyes as the music for _Missing Amethyst Eyes _began to play.

Eiri held his breath, he had no idea what to expect.

_**It's late at night, I close my eyes**_

_**And I'm alone again.**_

_**But even in the darkness, I can see you and me,**_

_**A vision dancing in my sight.**_

_**No matter what I do,**_

_**No matter what I say,**_

_**I just can't shake that feeling of wishing you were here.**_

_**No matter what I do,**_

_**No matter what I say,**_

_**I know deep down somewhere,**_

_**That losing you is what I really fear.**_

_**Because I'm missing you,**_

_**More than you could ever understand.**_

_**Words cannot describe how much I need your love tonight.**_

_**I'm loving you, but I'm afraid to say.**_

_**How much I'm truly missing your amethyst eyes.**_

Eiri was _so_ going to murder her when she was finished. The girl was going to die a horrible and painful death and be left out for the spirits to devour. She was going to be hung, drawn and quartered. Mika and Tatsuha read the look on his face and wisely didn't comment, guessing correctly that Kaede's 'friend' must have been him.

"I'll kill her." He muttered angrily. "I'll kill her very dead." He snarled.

"No you won't." Mika told him calmly. "This is more for Shuichi's benefit than yours I think. You should be thanking her."

"Yeah, I'll thank her all right, right after I destroy her." Eiri answered.

"Now, now. Don't be like that." Tatsuha said with a grin.

"Why not?" Eiri demanded.

"Because I said so." Tatsuha said with a grin. The younger boy pulled his brother down to his level. "There's something wrong here. Why would Shuichi leave if he still loved you?"

"I've been wondering the same thing." Eiri admitted.

"Maybe it's a set up?" Tatsuha suggested, "And when you over reacted after Kaede's little trick with the recording studio, things went wrong."

"I don't know about that." Eiri said shortly.

_**I live my life pretending that I don't care,**_

_**I've been this way so long that no one's noticed.**_

_**Only I can know the truth, of what's going on inside,**_

_**A pain too strong to bear, one heart that won't be spared.**_

_**I tell my friends that I'm okay, that I don't need you anyway.**_

_**But I'm lying to myself again, 'cause I've got nothing left but pain.**_

_**No matter what I do,**_

_**No matter what I say,**_

_**I know deep down somewhere,**_

_**That losing you is what I really fear.**_

_**Because I'm missing you,**_

_**More than you could ever understand.**_

_**Words cannot describe how much I need your love tonight.**_

_**I'm loving you, but I'm afraid to say.**_

_**How much I'm truly missing your amethyst eyes.**_

Kaede was watching Eiri fume in the back row and knew that she was going to be in serious trouble when she got off stage. She also saw Shuichi standing to the side, eyes wide and confused. He had known instantly that Eiri had written this for him, and he was scarcely able to believe it was true.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Suguru and Hiro give her a thumbs up as they retrieved the shocked Shuichi. They knew that the marathon was almost over

_**How is it that you've got inside my mind?**_ _**Into a place that no one else could ever find?**_ _**How is it that I don't even care?**_ _**How did you change me with no one knowing?**_ _**How do you make me feel alive again?**_

_**Why do you still love me after all I've done?**_

_**How can my past not haunt you too?**_

_**So many things I need to ask,**_

_**But most of all, I need to know,**_

_**Why won't you come home?**_

_**Because I'm missing you,**_

_**More than you could ever understand.**_

_**Words cannot describe how much I need your love tonight.**_

_**I'm loving you, but I'm afraid to say.**_

_**How much I'm truly missing your amethyst eyes.**_

_**I'm loving you, but I'm afraid to say,**_

**_How much I'm truly Missing Amethyst Eyes._**

There was a brief silence before the crowd broke out into raucous applause for the song. They thought it was the most romantic thing they'd ever heard.

Kaede looked sheepishly at Eiri, who made a slashing motion across his throat that meant 'you are so dead'… Kaede shivered, if looks could kill, she would've been dead, buried, reincarnated and then killed again by the glare that Eiri had given her.

When they trooped off stage they were greeted by a whirlwind of congratulations and pats on the back.

"Kaede…" a quiet voice said at her elbow. She turned to find Shuichi there.

"Yes Shu-chan, Eiri wrote that after you left." She said, hugging him. "How's that for proof?" she asked with a weak smile.

"Enough for me." Shuichi answered. "Although I wouldn't like to be you when Yuki catches up with you." He added with a slight grin.

"No, I got the famous Eiri Yuki Glare of DeathTM." Kaede said with a mock shudder.

"I wonder why?" shuichi said dryly. "If there's one thing I learnt, never touch the laptop!" he fell silent as he thought about his past with Yuki.

His thinking was disrupted by Eiri himself. "Shuichi…" he said softly. "I think we need to talk."

Shuichi froze, just looking at him, until Kaede ushered him towards Eiri and Ryu grabbed his arm and said. "Go, this is it."

Shuichi smiled faintly at Ryuichi. "You'd better go and find Tatsuha, tell him what happened." He retorted. Ryu blushed slightly as Hiro grabbed Shuichi and handed him over to Eiri.

Eiri led Shuichi to his black Mercedes SLE and opened the passenger door for him. Shuichi accepted with a small smile.

The drive to Eiri's apartment was silent, neither one wanting to be the one to break it, terrified of what the other might say. In actual fact, they were completely silent until they got inside the apartment and Eiri offered Shuichi a drink.

There was quiet for a few more minutes before Eiri spoke again. "So… the concert was good."

"Thanks." Shuichi answered softly. "I can't believe you actually came."

That was enough to send Eiri's fragile temper over the edge. "Is that how little you think of me?" he demanded

"Why would I think anything else? The other times you came it was under sufferance." Shuichi retorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eiri snapped.

Shuichi suddenly broke down and cried, falling to his knees. "I don't want to do this anymore Eiri! I don't want to pretend like I don't love you!" he sobbed.

"What are you on about?" Eiri asked, shaken.

"It was all just a stupid idea that Mika and Tohma came up with… it was all a set up that went very, very wrong. And I hate it!" Shuichi yelled through his tears. "Because now it's too late to do anything about it!" he was crying harder than before.

Eiri was silent. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. It had all been fake! Shuichi loved him! He knew he should be angry, but for some reason he wasn't… he still had his Shuichi, and he didn't care about the crap he'd been through. But he wasn't about to let it ride completely.

"Eiri? Please say something!" Shuichi begged.

"What do you want me to say Shuichi?" Eiri asked him.

"Anything!" Shuichi replied through his tears.

Eiri let the silence stretch for a few moments before he let out a delighted laugh. He pulled Shuichi to his feet and placed a crushing kiss against the pink haired singer's lips. After he recovered from the shock, Shuichi returned the kiss equally as passionately.

When they came up for air, Shuichi panted. "I'm sorry Eiri. Can you forgive me?" he looked so cute and adorable with the forlorn look on his face that Eiri melted.

"Yeah, I guess I can." He replied, smiling a true smile before leaning down and kissing his little lover sweetly, until Shuichi could only hang within the circle of his arms.

"But you're sleeping on the couch for a month." He whispered in Shuichi's ear.

"Yuuuuukkkkiii!" Shuichi whined, and Eiri laughed as he wrapped his arms around Shuichi's waist and carried him in the direction of the bedroom.

* * *

"Tatsuha!" Ryuichi called as the sixteen-year-old swung himself on to his bike.

"Ryuichi?" Tatsuha asked, bewildered.

Ryuichi looked around, "Can we go somewhere else?" he asked. "I wanna talk to you in private."

"Sure, I guess so." Tatsuha said nervously. "But where's Shuichi?"

Ryuichi grinned wickedly. "He's with Eiri… that's what I want to talk to you about."

Tatsuha passed him a bike helmet. "C'mon, put this on." He replied.

Ryuichi grinned widely. "Okay!" he said happily. He got on the bike behind Tatsuha and the boy flushed at being so close to his idol, particularly after their kiss at the Karaoke bar.

They stopped at Ryuichi's home, which was currently unoccupied due to Shuichi's absence, and Ryu led the way up to his room.

"Take a seat, anywhere is fine." Ryuichi said happily.

Tatsuha did as he was told, and then asked; "So, what did you want to talk about?"

Ryu took a deep breath, and then launched into an explanation of why he and Shuichi had been 'dating'.

It took a long time to explain, and when Ryuichi had finished, Tatsuha was silent for a moment so he could absorb everything he'd been told.

"So, it was all just a plan of my sister's to get Eiri to appreciate Shuichi?" he said. Ryu nodded.

"Why are you telling me this?" Tatsuha asked him.

"I-I don't really know." Ryu admitted. "I guess you had the right to know. Besides, ever since the night we all spent at the bar, and we… you know…" he trailed off.

"Kissed." Tatsuha finished for him, blushing madly.

"Yeah that. Well, ever since then I haven't been able to stop thinking about you. I've never had that much of an attention span, so three days is a long time for me to be thinking about the same thing." He sounded more mature than usual.

Tatsuha suddenly found it rather hard to breathe. He leaned across before Ryu could say anything else and kissed him, properly this time. Ryu responded almost instantly, running his tongue across Tatsuha's lips, asking for entrance. Tatsuha, used to being the one in control, gasped, unwittingly giving Ryuichi access to his mouth. Ryu pushed him back on to the giant queen sized bed that they were sitting on.

The next morning, Kaede received two phone calls from two _very _happy friends.


	9. New Beginnings

Yay! I hit the big 100! Arigatou to everyone who took the time to review this little story of mine, and I hope you'll also take the time to check out some of my others, including my two Eiri/Shuichi one-shot songfics.

This is the epilogue of Missing Amethyst Eyes, and the significance of the title is completely revealed. If anyone can guess what it is, they all get chocolate! And although someone asked for a lemon, I think it's a little late to put something like that into the story in the final chapter. It might get a bit suggestive though, just to make it interesting.

One of my reviewers said that they didn't like the story because it was a Mary-Sue and God forbid that Shuichi and Eiri solved their own problems. I know they're not going to read this, but as I was looking over chapter eight, I realised that Eiri and Shuichi actually _do_ pretty much solve their little drama on their own… so even though this particular reviewer didn't like it, there are still 99 reviewers out their who liked some aspect of this story.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Gravitation, or any of the songs I used throughout the duration of this story. If I did I'd be a very rich 16-year-old.

* * *

**Missing Amethyst Eyes**

**Epilogue**

ONE YEAR LATER

Eiri was pacing his study, waiting nervously for his partner to come home. He smiled to himself as he noticed how easily the words 'partner' and 'boyfriend' and 'lover' came to his mind these days whenever he thought of Shuichi.

Why was he so nervous? Well, today was the day that the 24-year-old's newest novel was released, and as always, his editor had given him a copy of the book. He usually rejected receiving a copy of his own, but this time, he'd taken one… not for himself, but for Shuichi.

In truth, it wasn't the book that made him nervous; it was the delicate golden promise ring he had attached to a length of elegant red ribbon and placed inside the book, so that it would fall open to the dedications. He hadn't been able to work out how to give it to his pink haired koibito without making a total sap of himself; until Kana had given him the perfect opportunity.

Eiri's head snapped up as he heard the front door slam loudly. "Eiri, I'm home!" a hyperactive voice called joyfully.

'_Well, here goes nothing…_' Eiri thought, picking up the book from his desk and walking out into the living room. "So I can hear." He said, lifting his love up by his waist until the shorter boy was sitting on the dining room table, and placing a gentle, tender kiss on his young boyfriend's slightly parted lips.

"Mmmm…Eiri…" Shuichi mumbled, flicking his tongue across Eiri's lips, seeking entrance and surprising Eiri enough to allow him inside and granting his lover's wish. It was unusual for Shuichi to be in control of this kind of situation. Eiri leant into the warmth of Shuichi's body as the rock star deepened the kiss.

Eventually, Eiri reluctantly pulled away, although he was almost willing to forget his whole plan just for a while, while he manoeuvred his little rock 'n' roll sex god into the bedroom to make music far sweeter than anything on an Ancient Curse, Nittle Grasper or Bad Luck album. But he couldn't, not after he'd come this far. Not after he'd finally opened up enough to do this.

"Eiri!" Shuichi moaned with disappointment. "Please… can we?" he motioned his head towards the bedroom.

"Not right now." Eiri told him with a smile and a kiss on the cheek. Shuichi sighed dejectedly.

Eiri lifted him gently off the table, and he giggled as he was carried lightly towards the couch. Shuichi, even after a whole year, wasn't used to being treated so this… wasn't used to Eiri being this romantic.

"Eiri, what's going on?" Shuichi asked him, giggling again.

Eiri smiled down at him as he lowered him on to the couch and sat down beside him. "It's our anniversary." He murmured.

Shuichi laughed a little. "Which one? We have a lot of anniversaries Eiri love. There's so many break up and getting back together anniversaries that I've lost count."

Eiri had to admit that this was certainly true, so he wasn't overly surprised that Shuichi had forgotten. "Baka, it's the anniversary of our first meeting, when we met in the park that night."

Shuichi's eyes widened. "Oh my God, you're right!" Shuichi threw his arms around Eiri's neck in a warm, tight hug. "Who would've thought that the anniversary of the benefit concert that got us back together would be so close to the anniversary of our first meeting?"

Eiri removed the small novel from his pocket where he had placed it earlier and carefully disentangled himself from Shuichi's embrace, before settling the book into the boy's hands.

"What's this?" he asked, confused.

"Open it and see." Eiri told him with a small, mysterious smile.

Curiously, Shuichi looked down at the book in his hands, and noticing that it was Eiri's latest accomplishment, ran his fingers over the cover before flicking through it from the back. As he reached the beginning of the book, it fell open to the dedication page, and he saw the thin piece of red ribbon that marked the page. Carefully Shuichi lifted it up so that he could examine it closely.

His eyes widened when he saw the ring hanging from the end. "Eiri… what?" he asked, looking up at his lover with tears stinging his eyes.

"It's for you, to show you that I love you." Eiri replied awkwardly. "It's a promise ring, a promise that I'll never let you go again."

Tears spilled from Shuichi's eyes as he once again wrapped his arms around Eiri's neck.

"Thankyou, I love it… I love _you_." He whispered into Eiri's chest.

"I love you too Shuichi-kun… but I should be the one thanking you; for healing me." Eiri whispered back, tears threatening to fall from his own eyes as he carefully slid the ring over Shuichi's finger.

They sat together on the couch, just content to hold each other, for quite sometime before Shuichi sniffed slightly and took another look at the dedication page.

_For my Shuichi, I never knew how much I loved you until I had to live without you… thankyou for all the times we've had together, and thankyou for coming back to me when you had no real reason to._

_Love always, Eiri._

_And for our friends, without whom I never would've realised how much he truly meant to me._

Shuichi laughed through his tears and threw himself into Eiri's arms again, kissing him passionately.

"Hey! What's all this?" Eiri asked when Shuichi pulled away.

Shuichi waved the book in his face. "This… is the best thing you could possibly have done for me, thankyou." He said, and he received a very warm kiss for his troubles.

"Do you like the title?" Eiri asked him anxiously, barely noticing that Shuichi was undoing the buttons on his shirt.

Shuichi looked back at the book, now sitting on the coffee table. "_Missing Amethyst Eyes_… its perfect." He smiled, kissing the hollow of the blonde's neck seductively. He stopped suddenly, and Eiri suppressed a small moan. "Oh, that reminds me, I have something for you too, Kasey asked me to give it to you. I guess it's actually kind of fitting." He went to his backpack and pulled out a CD case.

Eiri took it from him. It was Ancient Curse's new single; "_Missing Amethyst Eyes_", a song that had only been sung once, almost a year ago.

"I never did get around to killing her." Eiri replied with a grin. He opened the case and looked inside.

There was a note written in Kaede's messy hand. "_It's been a year since we performed this; we decided to release it in commemoration of that day. Thought you should have the first copy. Happy anniversary you guys (Hiro told us)! _

_Love Kaede, Akito, Saki, Haru, Sano and Kai._"

Eiri chuckled lightly. "Cute, I guess we do kind of owe them for this, don't we?"

Shuichi laughed too. "Maybe just a little." He agreed.

He looked at the clock. "Aren't we meant to be going out with Tatsuha and Ryuichi tonight, to celebrate our anniversaries?"

"Yeah, but Tatsuha called earlier. Said they had to cancel… Ryu's taking him to Verona for two weeks to celebrate. He didn't know until today. It would seem that Sakuma has more brains than we gave him credit for."

"You mean _you_ gave him credit for." Shuichi pointed out with a grin. "Where's Verona?"

"It's in northern Italy; it's where Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was set."

"How romantic, Ryu really went all out this time." Shuichi sighed. "But I think what you did for me was way better." He added with a flirtatious wink that Eiri rewarded with a hot, passionate kiss.

When they finally broke apart, Eiri grinned wickedly, a look that made Shuichi go weak at the knees. "Shall we?" he asked suggestively, gesturing in the general direction of their bedroom.

Shuichi nodded, and quick as a flash darted away from Eiri, who was in hot pursuit of his lover's lithe body. Shuichi giggled as Eiri pounced on him, pinning him to the bed and kissing him possessively. But this time, Shuichi wriggled out from underneath him, a secretive, seductive smile on his face.

"What's wrong?" Eiri asked.

"Nothing's wrong. It's just that…" Shuichi trailed off.

"What?"

Shuichi leant forward and whispered heatedly in his ear. "Tonight it's my turn." Before he ran his tongue lightly down from the hollow of Eiri's neck to his collarbone.

Eiri moaned in surprise and pleasure. "I couldn't agree more love." he murmured, before he surrendered himself into his lover's hands.

As the book and CD lay resting on the table, they ignored everything but each other. If they had bothered to look, they would've seen that the novel had opened to the first page…

"_Awww, c'mon Yuki!" The pink-haired teen whined, tugging persistently at the blonde's arm. "Take me out somewhere! Please!"…_

Time to start a new chapter of their lives.

_**FIN**_


End file.
